Glowing Embers in the Wind
by Denim88
Summary: Naruto never thought he'd have a family. Then again, he never expected to meet and befriend the Uchiha clan either. One boy's chance for a family sets a different course for Konoha. A story that takes a slightly different path in the Naruto universe.
1. Just One Boy

**Disclaimer: As you may have guessed, I don't own Naruto. If I did, and based it off this story...well, Naruto would be going in a completely different direction right now, heheh.**

**Glowing Embers in the Wind**

**Chapter One: Just One Boy**

These last couple of weeks had been tough for Itachi. He was finding it increasingly difficult to deal with the pressure both his father and his peers were putting on him. He had just made Chunin the other day, and was already being summoned by the Hokage himself to speak to the teenage Uchiha. He suspected it was a mission of higher than usual rank, considering he did not recieve a scroll or any written memo. This was unusual, considering that most Chunin didn't recieve such missions.

The receptionist walked out from the Hokage's office, and spoke softly, "Itachi-san, the Hokage wishes to see you now."

Itachi nodded, and got up from his chair in the lobby. He knocked quietly, recieving a "Enter." from the old man in the room inside.

Itachi entered to find the Hokage sitting in his chair looking out the window. His hat was off, and he was smoking his pipe; Itachi immediately sensed the irregularity of things.

"You wished to see me, Hokage-sama?" Itachi asked quietly, facing the elderly man before him.

The man nodded, and looked to the teen. He put out his pipe, and set it on the desk before him. He sighed, and looked to the boy that he was about to fling so much more onto. He almost regretted what he was about to do, "Itachi...do you know of a boy named Naruto Uzumaki?"

Itachi thought for a moment, "I believe so...if memory serves correct, he is an orphan boy that has blond hair. He's currenlty enrolled at the Academy, if I'm correct."

Sarutobi nodded; the boy was well-informed as always, "That's correct. Tell me...do you know anything about his lifestyle at all?"

Itachi was again quiet, then spoke after a moment of thought, "I believe my brother says that no one else plays with him. Uzumaki is a very loud boy, and he seems to do poorly in his lessons...but I believe he has amazing strength and endurance from what I've heard."

"That's true too..." Sarutobi sighed, "Itachi...what I'm about to share with you is something that is not allowed to leave the confines of these walls...understood?"

Itachi nodded, seeing why he had a feeling that this was going to be a long evening...

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Itachi was walking out of the Hokage Tower, a lot on his mind now. He had just found out one of the biggest secrets of Konohagakure and somehow he wasn't sure if he should be feeling sad or angered. Itachi wasn't known for wearing his emotions at his sleeve, or being one to express them openly for that matter. He had recently found living as an Uchiha to be a burden at times; the constant praising of his skills from his father, and the whispers of 'genius' being thrown around as he walked through the streets. He sighed, and looked at the paper he had recieved. Ichiraku Ramen...

"Hm, seems the boy has an interesting choice of tastes..." Itachi spoke quietly, and nodded as he continued down the road, and noticed the lanterns of the said ramen stand coming into sight. He barely noticed a pair of dangling feet connected to a little body sitting in a chair. The blonde hair seemed to give away the boy's location though.

Itachi walked in, and nodded politely to the owner. The man gave Itachi a nod, and eyed him warily as he noticed the man sat next to Naruto. Teuchi, while not a very strong man compared to the shinobi of Konoha, was somewhat protective of the blond boy, considering he knew what the young eight year old dealt with on an almost daily basis with the village.

Naruto Uzumaki was slurping his noodles up when he noticed a man with a black outfit on walk in. He wore a green vest, like most shinobi, but Naruto immediately noticed the symbol of the Uchiha on the shoulders of Itachi's shirt, and frowned "Am I in trouble?"

Itachi looked to the young blonde, and gave him an indifferent look, while in truth he was merely testing Naruto, "No. You are not, Naruto-kun."

Naruto's eyes widened as he heard the black haired boy speak his name, "You know my name?"

Itachi let a ghost of a smirk cross his face, "Yes, the Hokage told me about you."

Naruto's eyes immediately lit up, "I know Jii-san too! Man, he's so old! There's no way he can be that strong!"

Teuchih laughed while Itachi let out a stifled chuckle; the boy sure was quick to speaking his mind, "Yes, Hokage-sama is old. Believe it or not, though, Naruto-kun, he is quite strong. He is actually the strongest person in our entire village."

Naruto snorted, "Yeah, he says that all the time. Just wait, someday, I'm going to be Hokage! I'll be even better than any of the others before me!"

Itachi was surprised by this, "You wish to be Hokage someday?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, then everyone will have to respect me!"

Itachi gave a nod, knowing full well what the hidden meaning was behind those words,_ 'So he will be acknowledged...'_

"Naruto-kun...would you like to go to the park for awhile?"

Naruto was wary all of the sudden. He remembered times before when he became friend with ninja only for them to beat him up. He didn't know if this guy was any better, "Um...Jii-san says I shouldn't talk to strangers..."

Itachi nodded; the boy was quick thinking when he needed to be, "That is indeed some wise advice to follow," Itachi looked at Naruto straight in the eyes, "Naruto-kun, my name is Itachi Uchiha."

Naruto stiffened a bit, "Y-you're an Uchiha...?" Itachi nodded, "Oh...because usually, when I get in trouble, one of the Military police or ANBU comes to bring me to the Old Man..."

Itachi frowned as he looked away from the blonde, "You're not in trouble, Naruto-kun. I just figured you'd want to go to the park and play outside. Don't you usually do that?"

Naruto frowned, "No. None of the kids' parents let me play with them...and sometimes the kids yell at me and throw things at me..."

Itachi decided on a better idea, "How about I show you some ninja techniques?" He had planned on this.

Naruto's head snapped up to attention immediately, "Really???"

Itachi nodded, "Nothing flashy, but they're important things that you could probably use. All good ninja know them, and you have to be more than just a good ninja to be Hokage."

Naruto grinned, and slurped up the last of his noodles with inhuman speed, "Yeah! I love learning cool moves and new jutsu!!"

Itachi got up from his seat, and Naruto did likewise. The blonde suddenly stopped, and quickly dug in his tattered pockets for some change, "Oh...um...Old Man...I don't have any more money..."

Teuchi was about to say it was okay, but the clatter of some coins got his attention. Itachi layed down enough for the meal and a decent tip, "I'll pay for that, Naruto."

Naruto gave Itachi a confused look, "Why are you paying for my meal?"

Itachi continued walking as the young boy ran to catch up to him, "That's what friends do, Naruto-kun." Naruto was practically beaming when he heard that.

Little did Itachi know, but he had just been put on a very small list of people that were important to the blonde boy...

...Naruto had made a friend.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto was home by himself later that night. He held up the kunai he had recieved from Itachi as a present and a means to 'protect himself from fools' as the Uchiha had worded it. Needless to say, Naruto treasured it very much. He put it under his mattress, just like Itachi told him, and then crawled into his bed as well. Naruto slept very well that night in his little apartment. He even stopped having the nightmares that continually assaulted his mind that night.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Itachi watched from across the street as Naruto fell asleep. As soon as he was sure that the boy was no longer awake, he leapt off to home. Within a minute or so, he was in front of the Uchiha compound, and nodded to the two guards present at the gate. It was probably close to nine o' clock from what he guessed, looking at the moon. He opened the sliding door of his house, and quickly took off his vest. He sat down on the bed, and let out an exhausted breath. Naruto was, surprisingly, quite a bundle of energy. He wasn't sure what he had gotten himself into by having this mission thrown at him by the Hokage. He couldn't refuse it, for the Sandaime had placed it under S-rank, which was a bit confusing at first. It wasn't until he remembered that usually Naruto was in constant danger while out in public.

For the lack of a better word, Itachi was assigned as Naruto's personal bodyguard during the later afternoon hours when Naruto was outside. The daytime shift was given to an ANBU under the Hokage's authority, but nightime proved to be busy for most of the elite ninja, so Itachi was given this job. He didn't know if he should be offended by this, or happy that it wasn't a suicide mission.

He thought back to the expression on Naruto's face when Itachi first took out his kunai. Naruto jumped back, fear evident in his eyes, and he curled into a ball, shaking. Itachi guessed that the civilians weren't the only ones who attacked him. He had calmed Naruto down and told him that the kunai was his to keep, and that he should use it to protect himself. Naruto smiled happily, and proclaimed that he wanted to call Itachi his older brother. Itachi said that would be fine, though he would rather be viewed as a friend than family. Naruto frowned a bit, but understood a bit, so he continued calling Itachi by just his name.

A light knocking at his door shook Itachi from his thoughts. He walked over to open his room door, and was greeted by the figure of his younger brother, "Hello, Sasuke. What are you doing still up?"

Sasuke gave him a weak smile, "I was just wondering where you were ealier today." Sasuke's smile faltered, "I tried asking Tou-san to train me again today..." his head drooped, and Itachi frowned a bit. One more thing that was bothering him lately; the lack of attention Fugaku had been giving the younger of the two lately.

Itachi's expression soured for a brief second before he smiled at his younger brother, "Don't worry...I'll try and have a talk to him about it."

Sasuke's frown became a smile again, "Y-you will?"

Itachi nodded, and then an idea struck, "Sasuke, do you know a Naruto Uzumaki by any chance?"

Sasuke seemed to think for a moment before he nodded, "Yeah, he's pretty loud, but I guess he's okay..."

Itachi put a hand on Sasuke's shoulders, "Well, I'm in charge of taking care of him during the afternoon by the orders of the Hokage. Would you want to possibly come with me tomorrow afternoon and spend some time with him?"

Sasuke thought about it for a second, and then nodded, "Yeah."

"Very well, then make sure to be at the front of our house by five o' clock in the afternoon, okay?"

"Okay...um...Nii-san?" Sasuke asked quietly.

Itachi turned to look at the eight year old boy, "Yes?"

"Um...does Naruto have any family?" Sasuke asked, looking away.

"No...Naruto lives by himself..." Itachi replied quietly.

"Why?" Sasuke asked again.

Itachi thought of the appropriate answer for a brief moment, then looked at Sasuke again, "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure why. He's misunderstood by many...but I still don't think that's a good excuse for him to be alone."

Sasuke nodded, and then said goodnight. Itachi headed over to his bed, and flopped down with a thud. He was not happy with the way things were going in his life right now...his father was getting on his case lately about joining ANBU, and ignoring Sasuke even more than he had been in the past. Itachi was thankful that at least their mother was still as caring as she always had been to her younger brother. He sensed that she actually favored Sasuke out of the two, but they may have been because he was still young, and that gave her an excuse to be all worrisome for him sometimes. Now this added fact that he knew more about Naruto Uzumaki's history had him realizing just how easy he and his brother had it.

Itachi eventually drifted off to a dreamless sleep, knowing that he would need to rest a lot if he planned on keeping an eye on both Naruto and Sasuke tomorrow.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

At recess the following day, Naruto was sitting at his usual swing by himself. He was used to it; none of the kids would want to play with him anyway. He reminded himself that Itachi would come and see him later on today though, so he felt a little better after thinking about that.

Naruto felt someone was looking at him, and he lifted his head to see a black haired boy around his age standing a few feet away from him, "Hi."

Naruto was confused; why was this boy talking to him?

"Um...hi..."

Sasuke looked away for a second, then smiled, "Are you Naruto Uzumaki?"

Naruto nodded slowly, and Sasuke walked up to him and held out his hand. Naruto realized that Sasuke wanted him to shake it, so the blonde did just that.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha. I think you know my older brother, Itachi." Sasuke said as he pulled his hand back with an uneasy smile.

Naruto grinned upon hearing this, "Oh, so _you're_ Itachi's younger brother! He told me he had a brother, but I didn't know it was you!"

Sasuke and Naruto spent their recess sitting under the tree talking about their experiences in the academy. Sasuke was suprised as Naruto told him about all the pranks he pulled on different people, and that he was able to sneak into the Hokage's office without being noticed by the ANBU.

"Wait, you can do that?" Sasuke went wide-eyed, "Don't you get in trouble when you do?"

Naruto laughed, "Ha, nah, Jii-san always says that I can come and see him when I feel like it, and most of the ANBU don't bother me when they find me there."

Soon Naruto and Sasuke were heading back inside, and found themselves sitting next to each other. Naruto wanted to keep talking to Sasuke, but he found that Sasuke actually listened to the lectures given by their teacher, so Naruto figured he should do so as well. When they did some classwork and Naruto didn't understand, Sasuke would try to explain it (after seeing that the teacher had completely ignored the blonde when he raised his hand).

Eventually it was going onto three o' clock, and class was done for the day. Naruto said he was going to go and get some ramen, and offered Sasuke to come along. Sasuke politely declined, saying that he had to be home or else his mother would get worried about him.

Naruto spent about an hour at the ramen stand, telling Teuchi about everything that he did today, and Teuchi couldn't help but smile when Naruto told him he made friends with Sasuke. Teuchi was about to serve Naruto his third bowl when a familiar figure in black with a green Chunin vest walked in, "Ah, Itachi-san, good to see you again."

Itachi nodded, and took a seat next to Naruto, "Hello, Naruto-kun."

Naruto sprung up from his seat, "Itachi! Hey, hey, guess what happened today?! Come on, guess!"

Itachi smirked a little, "I have no clue, what happened today?"

Naruto beamed as he got the chance to tell his older friend about his newest friend he made, "I made friends with your brother today! Sasuke's real smart, and he helped me with my work in class today! I still don't think I know all of it, but..." Naruto looked around before whispering, "...he let me copy some of his answers..."

Itachi gave a rare shadow of a smile, "Well, I'm glad Sasuke and you are friends. That will help save introductions when I bring you to my house today."

Naruto's grin widened even further, "You're going to let me go over to your house?!"

"Yes, I wanted you to meet Sasuke, but it seems you already know him. So I thought you and him can go practice in our family's training ground, and maybe have dinner with us later tonight." the Uchiha spoke as he layed down some money for Naruto's food without the boy noticing.

"Really? You really want me to eat with your family? You're not playing a trick on me?" Naruto said, a little wary all of the sudden.

"No, I'm not playing a trick on you, Naruto-kun. Now come on, we're going to go to the park for awhile. I'm going to see how well you are at throwing shuriken today." Itachi said as he led the boy out of the stand. Teuchi watched the two leave, and a small smile crept on his face. His favorite customer had made another friend today, and it seemed that maybe he would find himself a place to belong afterall.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Five o' clock rolled around, and Sasuke waited at the gates of his clan's compound like his brother had asked. He noticed his brother and a familiar blonde walking towards the compound, and noticed that Naruto seemed to be jumping up and down as he saw Sasuke at the gates. He waved frantically at the younger Uchiha, and Sasuke waved back with only a little less enthusiasm than the boy around his age.

"Hey, Nii-san, Naruto." Sasuke said as he gave a polite bow to his guest.

"Why are you bowing?" Naruto asked, giving Sasuke a confused look.

"It's a polite thing to do when someone has a guest, Naruto-kun." Itachi said as they walked in. The guards gave Naruto a wary look, but one glance from Itachi kept them from saying anything.

Naruto and Sasuke soon found themselves in the forested backyard of the main household. Sasuke and Naruto had decided to play a game of hide and seek, and Sasuke was currently having the worst of luck trying to find his blonde haired companion. Itachi sat on a rock, giving the occasional glance towards a particular branch of a tree Sasuke was near. Naruto was definitely good at hiding...Itachi could probably guess why too.

"What's Sasuke doing, Itachi?" came a woman's voice.

"Hello, Kaa-san." Itachi replied, "Sasuke's trying to find his friend, Naruto."

Mikoto Uchiha was quiet for a moment, "Naruto?"

"Yes, Naruto Uzumaki...the boy that I told you about. The one with a special condition..."

Mikoto nodded, fully understanding. She knew full well about the village's Jinchuuriki. She had no ill feelings toward him, and was actually quite glad to find that he was here. She had learned earlier today that Sasuke had made a friend, and she silently hoped that Fugaku wouldn't make a huge deal of this. She knew that Naruto was just an innocent eight-year old orphan, and for a moment she frowned, "How is Naruto?"

"He considers me and Sasuke to be his best friends. He seems quite happy from what I understand. Right now, he's hiding from Sasuke." Itachi gave a small nod towards a branch filled with leaves. Being a former Jounin of Konoha, Mikoto was able to sense others' chakra, and she had a fair amount of experience in battle. She was unable to ever obtain the Sharingan, but that didn't mean she wasn't respected.

"Well, dinner's ready. Why don't you call the boy's over here?" she asked, and Itachi nodded.

"Sasuke, Naruto, it's time to eat." Itachi called over, and within a minute Naruto was bounding down the tree. Sasuke was a bit surprised, but didn't say anything. He was just happy to have someone his age to spend time with.

Naruto followed behind Sasuke and noticed Mikoto. He stopped short, and looked down all of the sudden.

Mikoto gave the boy a sad look, and decided to start up a conversation, "Why don't you introduce your friend to me, Sasuke?"

Sasuke smiled, and told Naruto to walk up from behind Naruto, "Kaa-san, this is Naruto Uzumaki. He's in my class at the Academy."

Mikoto smiled at the boy as he chanced a look at her. Upon seeing her smile, he seemed to become less tense, "Hi." he said meekly.

The Uchiha matriarch kneeled down to the boy's level, "Hello, Naruto-kun. I'm Sauske and Itachi's mother, Mikoto." Naruto smiled a little, and became interested in his feet all of the sudden. Mikoto, who could sense his uneasiness, put a hand gently on his head, "Naruto-kun, would you like to eat with us?"

Naruto nodded with a small "Yeah."

Mikoto smiled, and with Itachi lead the two younger boys inside. She usually had left over food when she cooked anyways.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto felt nervous as he sat at the Uchiha's dining room table. To his left was Sasuke, and on the other side was Itachi. Across from the two boys was Mikoto, and on the side opposite of Itachi sat a man that Naruto had learned was Sasuke's father, Fugaku. The man had given Naruto a stern, yet non-threatening look, and Naruto felt very vulnerable as he ate. Luckily for him, Mikoto had striked up a conversation with the two Uchiha boys while Naruto quietly listened. He was afraid if he spoke he would get yelled at.

"Well, aside from the scuffle between those two merchants, did anything else happen on patrol today, Itachi?" Mikoto asked.

"No, unlike Naruto and Sasuke, my day wasn't that interesting at all." Itachi spoke as he looked to the two boys.

"You shouldn't be doing simple patrol, Itachi." spoke Fugaku, "You're a member of the Uchiha clan with great potential; I could only think that you'll be in ANBU sooner or later."

Mikoto sensed a sudden drop in the atmosphere by a few degrees, and felt the tension between the two men. Itachi had been having difficulties with Fugaku lately, and the pressure to already go into ANBU so early was quite aggravating. It wasn't impossible for the teen, just aggravating. He was tired of his father and his speeches of how being an Uchiha meant that you had an unwritten status as an elite.

"Perhaps, but that's not a concern of mine right now, Tou-san." Itachi replied, and for a brief second Mikoto heard a hint of anger in her otherwise calm son's voice.

"Not a concern right now?" Fugaku repeated, his tone a combination of surprise and some disbelief, "What do you mean by that, Itachi?"

Itachi looked to Naruto, "I have other obligations right now, like a certain person's safety."

Fugaku seemed to understand, "So an orphan boy's safety is more important than your clan's interests?"

"Fugaku!" Mikoto said, sending him a surprised look.

Itachi got up from the table, and narrowed his eyes at his father, "I wish to be excused."

Fugaku took the staring contest a step further and activated his Sharingan, "I wish to speak with you outside, Itachi."

Itachi nodded, "Very well." he became calm in his tone, "Kaa-san, thank you for dinner," he then turned to Naruto, "Naruto, I'm afraid I'm going to have to bring you home after we're done eating." With that, he walked outside to the courtyard, and Fugaku followed.

Naruto sunk into his chair, and didn't feel hungry anymore, "I'm sorry..."

Mikoto gasped lightly, "Oh no, Naruto-kun, that isn't your fault at all."

"Yes it is..." Naruto said as he felt tears prickling the corners of his eyes, "Whenever I make friends with kids, their parents always say that I can't play with them, and that I'm a monster."

Mikoto's expression went from distraught to saddened, "Naruto-kun, you are not a monster." Sasuke nodded too, even though he was unsure of what this conversation was about. He knew Naruto wasn't a _bad _person.

Naruto got up from his seat, "I'll go wait out in the front..." he rubbed his eyes a bit as he tried to hold back his tears, "Thanks for the meal, Mikoto-san...bye, Sasuke." he ran to the door, and tears trailed down his face as he did so.

Mikoto was about to go and try and help him, and Sasuke was already halfway to the door when a voice stopped them, "It's okay...I'll talk with him."

Itachi was walking back in already, trailed behind a very stressed Fugaku. Itachi gave Sasuke a pat on the head, and a nod to his mother, then went out to the entrance to catch up with Naruto.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto was sprinting through the Uchiha compound, sobbing quietly as he did so. He had tried not to cry, as people only laughed at him when he did, but he couldn't help it. He had made friends with Itachi and Sasuke, and thought Mikoto was a really nice lady. Sasuke's dad didn't like him though, so that meant he wouldn't be able to play with Sasuke anymore or spend time with Itachi.

He was about to turn a corner when he bumped into someone. Without even looking, he choked out a "Sorry."

"It's okay, Naruto..." Naruto looked up to see Itachi standing in front of him, look of indifference on his face. He bent down to Naruto's level, "One thing you must learn to do though is not let the words of others hurt you so much..."

Naruto nodded, "Does your dad hate me?"

Itachi shrugged, "I will not lie to you; I am not sure. He seemed upset when he saw you at our house, but he didn't kick you out. I wouldn't have allowed that, but he didn't do it anyway. I cannot say if he hates you or not..." Naruto's face drooped a bit, "...don't let that bother you though. Sasuke thinks of you as a friend, my mother cares for you, and I believe that you are a good kid as well."

Itachi helped Naruto get home, and waited until he saw that Naruto was in his bed and asleep through the same vantage point he watched Naruto from last night. He gave a sigh, and jumped off towards home.

Itachi arrived home, and found a few men to be waiting at the front door of his house, talking to his father, "Are you certain of this; he can't be found anywhere?" Fugaku asked, the three men.

The three Konoha Military Police officers all nodded and gave an affirmative, and Itachi decided to make his presence known, "What seems to be the problem?"

The three men all nodded, and one of them spoke, "It seems that Shisui Uchiha has gone missing recently...there aren't any signs though as to where he may be." The officer gave Itachi a questioning look, "You were good friends with him, weren't you?"

Itachi shrugged, "I suppose, though he seemed to be distant as of late. I haven't spoken to him in a few weeks, so I don't know where he could be."

The three men nodded, "Very well. We're going to let the ANBU know of this, they can do searches outside of the village, and it will help us expand our own efforts as well."

"That's fine, in the mean time I'll inform the Hokage of this." Fugaku replied, and he quickly turned to Itachi, "Itachi, if you see anything suspicious that may lead to clues of Shisui's whereabouts, let us know."

Itachi gave a curt bow, and the four men dissapeared in a whisp of smoke. Itachi headed inside, and was greeted by Mikoto, "Is Naruto allright?"

"He'll be fine. I walked him home, and told him that he was still welcome here anytime. I was thinking of maybe stopping by when the Academy lets out to bring him and Sasuke home. I'm sure he would like that." Itachi replied quietly.

Mikoto seemed a bit relieved as she heard this, "Good. Sasuke was upset by what happened, and I don't think he took it that well. I simply told him Naruto's had a difficult time making friends. Hopefully Sasuke will continue to talk to him when they're at school..."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Later that evening Itachi was in his room reading over a scroll when he heard a few sounds from outside his door. He listened intently, and found them to be the sounds of his father talking to someone. He leaned an ear against his door, and closed his eyes to focus, "...scrolls look like they've been read over recently. I'm not sure who could have gotten in here so easily and not been noticed..."

"Well, we've found no traces of a possible theft, but to say that someone outside of the Uchiha clan was able to look over _those_ clan scrolls is practically impossible." spoke another man, most likely a Military Police officer

"I know...that could only mean that either someone is a great seal master, or one of the Uchiha in our clan is doing acts behind our back..." spoke Fugaku.

"There's also been no signs of Shisui anywhere...this is becoming unsettling, Fugaku. We may have to consider him a missing-nin. He wasn't scheduled for any missions, so there should be no reason why he's not within Konoha." replied the officer.

Itachi sat back, and thought over what he just heard. Was his father talking about the forbidden scrolls of the clan? Even _he _wasn't allowed to view them...which was a bit suspicious in itself. He thought it over, and arrived to a conclusion after some thought. He may have been off, but it was somewhat plausible: Shisui had entered the main house of the clan and looked over the scrolls before going missing.

Itachi looked out his window, and noticed the moon was brighter than most nights. He cracked his neck before slumping down into his bed. He was once again drifting to sleep with thoughts of what other reasons he didn't fully understand his clan sometimes.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

**Eight Months Later...**

Sasuke was walking home after another night of practicing his ninjutsu out by the dock. He had come along way since he managed to perform the _**Goukakyuu no Jutsu**_ in front of his father, and recieved some praise from him. While it did make him happy, the fact that he was still concerned about Itachi made him upset. He showed Naruto it one day, and Naruto said openly "That's freakin' awesome! Teach me!"

Sasuke, however, said that it wasn't possible right now, having remembered Itachi telling them both that Naruto still had poor control of his chakra. Sasuke had promised Naruto that one day, when he was ready for the technique, that he would try and show him. Naruto made sure to hold Sasuke to it.

Itachi had gone on to become an ANBU only four months after he became a Chunin, and was now even busier than before. Itachi still would visit Naruto once a week when possible, yet his new job prevented that. Naruto, however, did see the older Uchiha every now and then in the Hokage Tower when he wasn't on active duty.

As for the two boys, they had improved a lot in the Academy. Naruto, while still not the greatest student, had managed to bring himself up in the class. He even managed to make a few friends with Chouji Akimichi, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shikamaru Nara. He also found himself interested in a certain pink haired girl, named Sakura Haruno, who he had later told Mikoto was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Mikoto smiled, only imagining how much of a heartbreaker the boy would be when he got older.

Sasuke came back from his thoughts as he turned the corner towards his house. He stopped almost immediately as he felt a sudden ominous feeling in his stomach; the kind that a ninja in training seemed to inherit once they began to understand shinobi skills better. Killer intent was what it was always identified as...but this feeling...it felt worse. Sasuke started sprinting to his house, fearing what he woudl find there. As he rounded another corner, he nearly fell over is shock.

All over the street lay bodies of Uchiha clan members. Sasuke was stone-still as he scanned the area. What happened?! He forced himself to move, and he let out a panicked breath as he looked over the faces of familiar relatives. Who could have done this?

He went up to the door of his house, and felt a surge in killer intent from the other side of the door. He shook a bit, but forced himself to grip the doors, and open them, hoping that maybe this was all a Genjutsu being used to test him.

Sasuke opened the door, and saw something that made his stomach flip, tighten, and cause hims to fall on his knees...

There on the floor lay the body of Fugaku Uchiha, the clan head of the Uchiha, one of the Military Police officers of Konoha...

...Sasuke's father...

"Tou-san!" Sasuke cried as he ran over to the body, but stopped as he heard a sound from up stairs. He listened, and heard voices. He couldn't distinguish them, but it sounded like fighting. Fighting!

He ran up the steps as quickly and quietly as he could. He reached the top of the stairs, and saw a single light on in a room. He slowly approched it, kunai in hand, and listened intently to the voices inside.

"Why did you do this, Shisui?" came a low voice, and Sasuke immediately recognized it as Itachi's. He forced himself not to run and help his brother, and instead listened.

A sound of someone laughing was made, "Come now, Itachi, surely you understand what I mean. I had to test my capabilities...to get one step closer to achieving a greater weapon."

A growl was heard; Itachi was mad. He never growled unless he was really mad, "The Mangekyou Sharingan has not been achieved by clan members for years for a _reason_, Shisui. I can't believe you would go this far. You were one of the greatest shinobi of our clan, how could you betray us?"

"Look who's talking, Mr. Tired-of-my-clan's-ideals. You know, Itachi, I expected _you_ of all people to understand my reasoning. I am looking at a bigger picture here; not just Konoha. Until you understand that, there's no reason to bother explaining this to you."

It was silent for a few seconds, and Sasuke had enough. He burst through the door, kunai in hand. He immediately felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, and cried out.

"Sasuke!" came a woman's voice. Mikoto was alive, and standing behind Itachi, a kunai in her hand as well, being a former shinobi, she knew how to wield a weapon.

"Well, I was wondering where the little runt was." Shisui spoke, a deadly edge in his tone, "Hn, to think that you actually were able to learn the _**Goukakyuu no Jutsu**_...just goes to show that our clan had low standards for our members." Shisui held a sword in his hands, aiming to decapitate the boy, "Tch, well, at least you won't bother wasting space anymore. Good riddance."

Sasuke was frozen in fear, and watched as the blade came swinging down. He closed his eyes as he heard his mother cry out, but he never felt a thing. He opened his eyes as the sound of metal hitting metal was heard.

"Sasuke...get Kaa-san out of here now, and get the ANBU here immediately..." Itachi said as he struggled against the older man; the man that he had until recently saw as his best friend.

Sasuke wasted no time, and with his mother, they ran down the steps, and hurried out to the path in front of their house. They heard a crash of breaking glass, and saw the two Uchiha begin fighting each other on the streets, swords dancing in the moonlight. They had to hurry!

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He forgot to give Sasuke's shuriken set back to him, and he really didn't want to wait any longer for them to be returned. He knew it was late, but he also knew that someone would be awake at the compound to give it back. He was however surprised when he saw no one at the gates to stop him. He continued onward, hoping maybe Sasuke's mother or Itachi was awake.

That's when he heard it. The sound of steel hitting steel. He slowly turned down a corner, and gasped as he saw bodies littering the road to Sasuke's house. He immediatley panicked, but suddenly noticed Sasuke and his Mother heading towards him, well, at least heading in his general direction. Looking further down the road, he saw Itachi fighting a man with an Uchiha clan shirt and vest. He never saw the man before, so he wasn't sure who it was. However...he knew something bad was happening.

Naruto reached into a pocket, and pulled out a small, silver whistle. This whistle wasn't ordinary though. Itachi had given it to him for one purpose, and one purpose only; to call any ANBU within earshot to his location. He took in a deep breath, and blew into the whistle for all he was worth.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A sharp, shrilling note was heard throughout a good portion of the village that was within a good fifteen minutes of the Uchiha compound. If one looked closely, they could see about twelve black blurs running towards the sound suddenly. The ANBU were summoned.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Itachi and Shisui stood apart for a brief moment, and Itachi suddenly heard the sound of the ANBU emergency whistle call. He immediately knew who it was, _'Naruto...' _Itachi braced himself as he blocked another from Shisui, and suddenly he lost track of him.

"What?" Itachi spoke, his Sharingan trying to scan for his foe, but not finding anything.

"Nii-san, behind you!" Sasuke cried, and Itachi jumped back just in time to avoid a spray of shuriken. Shisui growled in frustration. It didn't help that his attack was now public knowledge to the ANBU of Konoha, and that he probably would have to retreat within less than a minute. He hated the fact that despite the Sharingan's ability to predict the opponent's moves, it couldn't help you keep up with their speed. Itachi was fast. Not a good thing.

Shisui frowned, "That demon-brat saved your family's life, Itachi...but don't think this is over. We _will_ meet again..." With a single hand seal, he dissapeared. Itachi scanned around, and when he felt the presence of about a dozen ANBU, he collapsed, exhaustion taking it's toll on him. He was good...but Shisui was also considered the best Uchiha in the clan for a reason.

One of the ANBU walked up to Mikoto, Sasuke, and the new-comer Naruto, "Are you allright?" he asked. Mikoto nodded quickly, trying not to breakdown in front of her son and his best friend, "Itachi's been wounded in several places, but it looks like he was able to avoid any lethal wounds. He'll need to be brought to the hospital immediately. In the meantime, we ask that you and these two boys come with us to the Hokage's office."

Mikoto nodded again, not trusting her voice. Naruto looked up to her face, and noticed tears in her eyes, "Mikoto-san...is Itachi going to be okay?"

Mikoto looked to the boy that had probably just saved both her sons' lives as well as her own. She kneeled down to him, and wrapped him in a hug, "Yes, Naruto-kun, thanks to you, Itachi's going to be okay." she sobbed a bit, and rubbed his head a bit, "Thank you for saving my sons, Naruto..."

Naruto nodded, somewhat confused. He had recieved a hug from her before, but the feeling was still foreign to him. However, from the small nod he recieved from Sasuke, he knew that he did something right.

...and thus begins our story of how one chance meeting of Itachi Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki changed the course of history for Konohagakure, and the surrounding ninja world.

**end of Chapter One - Gah! Well, I think that this counts as the longest introductory chapter to any of my stories...ever...anyway, this idea would not leave me alone. Why? I'm not quite sure. Blame it on imagination; yeah, curse you imagination for giving me creative ideas to alter the Narutoverse completely, lol. Well, let me know what you think. I'm not sure when I'll update next; like most of my stories, I do this as I go along. I have an idea of what I'm going to do, but it may be slow-going for awhile. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hoped you enjoyed it! Until we meet again, happy reading!**

**Justu notes:**

_**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu **__**-- Fire Release: Fireball Technique (origingal)- **_A fire jutsu used by many of the clan members of the Uchiha clan, as well as quite a few shinobi of Konoha. The user does the necessary hand seals, draws the necessary chakra from their mouth to their chest, and exhales it in a steady stream of flames, creating a fireball. On a sidenote, the Uchiha clan considere being able to master this technique as a rite of passage into adulthood, and being recognized as a true member of the clan, and no longer as a child.

**A/N- **On a sidenote, Naruto will become the main focus soon enough, and I do have a pairing in mind, those of you who know me well enough can probably already guess...and I kind of hinted at it in this fic. As you can see, things have already done a one-eighty as far as the Naruto storyline goes. Imagine more twists while somethings to remain the same. Well, later!


	2. Family of My Own

**Disclaimer: (Insert random joke of not owning Naruto here). Sorry folks, nothing today. I do not own Naruto, or any of it's characters.**

**Glowing Embers in the Wind**

**Chapter Two: Family of My Own**

Mikoto stood outside the lobby of the hospital, looking everynow and then at the red light above the door that signaled the emergency room being used. She turned to the sleeping form of Sasuke and Naruto, who had come along out of fear that Itachi would not make it through the treatment. She thanked the heavens above for the blonde boy's impeccable timing for the tenth time that night, Naruto truly saved all of them last night.

Another fifteen minutes passed before the light went off, and Mikoto slowly got up, making sure not to disturb the two sleeping boys. She waited until the door opened, and a medic nin walked out. He appeared tired, but a small smile was on his face, "Uchiha-san?" she nodded, "Itachi's going to make a full recovery. He'll need to rest for a day or two before he can return to service, and about one week until he is able to rejoin ANBU forces."

She let out a breath, and looked up, "Is there any chance that we can see him?"

The medic nodded, "Certainly, once we get him to his room, we'll allow you a few minutes to see him."

A few minutes later, a receptionist lead the Uchiha matriarch and the two sleepy eight year old boys to a room in the recovery wing. They opened the door, and on a bed with a few bandages was Itachi, "Itachi!" she practically ran up and held him in her arms. He gently patted her back.

"It's allright, Kaa-san, the doctor's said I'll be fine." he spoke in his usual quiet tone. She nodded, thankful that he was still the same boy she always knew. She took a step back and brushed a few tears out of her eyes. Sasuke walked up to him and smiled.

"Nii-san...you're okay?" the younger Uchiha asked, and Itachi nodded with a small smile.

"Sasuke, I'm proud of what you did today. It was proof that you're truly capable to be a Leaf ninja to stand up against someone to protect others..." he spoke quietly, and smirked as Sasuke let a small grin cross his face through some unshed tears, "...we'll have to work on that stealth of yours though..."

Naruto stood to the back, not really sure if he should make his presence known. He suddenly noticed the three family members looking at him, "Um...what's wrong?"

Itachi spoke, "Naruto...thank you. You may have very well saved my life tonight." Naruto looked down, not used to being thanked by anyone, let alone Itachi. He shuffled his feet nervously, and felt a pair of arms wrap around him. He stiffened, but then noticed it was Mikoto.

"Naruto, I owe you a debt I don't think I can ever pay...for saving my sons' lives and my own...thank you." she let a few tears fall quietly, and she tightened a bit, and Naruto slowly wrapped his small arms around the woman's frame, not sure what to do. He heard her laugh, albeit a hint of sadness was in her tone, "Naruto-kun, haven't you ever been hugged before?" she already knew the answer, and frowned a bit when he shook his head. This was only his second one tonight, both had come from the dark haired woman before him, "Well, I want you to know that I deeply care about you, and tonight I think has shown me just how brave you are."

Naruto blushed a bit, being affected by another foreign feeling; pride. He never had that before, but recieving those words from Itachi and Mikoto made him feel warm on the inside, something he wasn't sure he felt before, "Thank you...Mikoto-san."

She laughed, "Mikoto is fine, Naruto, you know that." he nodded, and apologized, and she sighed, "You don't need to apologize for something like that either, Naruto. Just remember that, okay?"

Naruto nodded again, and let out a yawn, and Sasuke followed suit as well. It had been a long and very stressful night. She was pretty sure that tomorrow would be worse, once the results finally kicked in for the family. She cringed at having to face that, and shook the thought out for now. She would worry later when she got home...

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The funeral had been long, and very hard for Sasuke and his family. He was however happy to see that he still had some family left, and his friend Naruto. Itachi stood on a crutch by his mother, facing the pictures of the numerous members of his clan. He did not cry, and did not feel weak. He felt guilty for not being able to save them, that much was true. That arrogant smirk on Shisui's face flashed in his mind all of the sudden. He gripped his crutch a tad bit tighter, but killed the anger; he knew all to well that letting emotions get to an individual at such a time could be bad.

The Uchiha heir looked down, and felt all his negativity dissapear as he gazed upon the faces of his little brother and young friend Naruto. His mother was shedding silent tears, and he frowned with a hint of sadness. He wasn't sad for the lossess...well, some of the deaths were indeed saddening. He would miss his aunt and uncle, that was true. His father though...he didn't feel sorrow for Fugaku's loss. In truth, most of the Uchiha were very arrogant. He hated that arrogancy, but as always there were exceptions. Sasuke was an example, and so was his mother. He found it ironic that two people he cared for had survived the massacre.

The Hokage spoke a few words, and a funeral pyre was lit in honor of the fallen clan members. The skies were sunny though, and a light breeze blew by. Itachi noticed a few rays of light fall on Naruto's face. The boy looked up to the sky, and a small grin crossed his face as a few birds flew by, chirping quietly. Itachi smiled a bit; it was almost symbolic in a way. The boy who suffered so much was able to bring light to the dreary clan. He then remembered the words his mother and him exchanged earlier today, and he smiled softly as he turned back to the funeral pyre. Indeed, Naruto would be bringing more light to their lives, if things went accordingly.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Several days had passed since the funeral, and Mikoto had requested a meeting with the Sandaime. She said it had to do with family matters, though that was all she said. Now she was facing the elderly village leader, who had a small smile on his face, a flash of sympathy in his eyes as she looked upon his leathery features, "Mikoto-san, how are you and the family doing?"

She sighed, "We're managing fine I guess. We'll be continuing to hold the main house for our clan, but the other buildings were still thinking about whether to sell them off or hold onto them...but that's besides the point right now. I'm going to go out and state my purpose for being here right now," she composed herself, "Hokage-sama...I wish to adopt Naruto Uzumaki into my family."

For all the years of his life that he shared with Naruto, he never expected this to happen. He looked at her, reading her features, and sensing no deception in her eyes. She gave off the feeling of determination, and he already knew that she was perfect for the orphan Jinchuuriki. He wanted to test her anyway, and maybe inform her of what she was getting herself into with the blonde, "Really now? Well, I sure hope that you can provide for him."

Mikoto nodded, "Hokage-sama, Itachi and I have already talked about this, and as clan heir he feels that Naruto would be a wonderul addition to our family. Sasuke, while he is a bright and intelligent boy, still needs a friend. Naruto and him are best of friends, and even though they argue sometimes, I think they would be happy with this."

Sarutobi nodded, "Hm...just how well do you know Naruto, though?"

Mikoto seemed to take the challenge happily, "Naruto loves ramen more than any other meal, but he says my beef stew draws a close second. He enjoys being outside whenever he can, and loves the color orange to unhealthy level, but I love him for that," she smiled a bit before continuing, "While he does seem to be enjoying his Academy classes a bit more since he met Sasuke, he's still not doing as well as I believe he could. Itachi and Sasuke are trying to help him when they can. Let's see...Naruto's birthday is on the tenth of October, but he doesn't tell anyone that though. He feels that he shouldn't bother others with his life, or that's the impression I've gotten anyway. That's unfair though...every boy should get to celebrate his birthday..."

Sarutobi nodded, "Mikoto...I hope you understand that taking Naruto in may bring some unwelcome hostility to your clan...but I'm sure you were already aware of this..."

Mikoto nodded, "Yes, I am. I see Naruto as family though, and I can't stand to think that he has no one to come home to everyday after the Academy lets out. I only wish I had been able to help him sooner."

The Third smiled, "Very well, I'll have you sign the proper documents..." he sighed softly, "You do realize how much this is going to shake him, don't you? He's never had anyone willing offer to take him in as a part of the family."

Mikoto laughed, "He's got a big heart, I can only imagine what he'll do. He's so kind for a boy that's gone through such things...though I guess a future Hokage needs that kind of personality."

Sarutobi looked up, and gave the Uchiha matriarch a genuine smile, "So...you've heard of his dream?"

"Yes, and I truly think he could achieve it if he wanted."

"What about Itachi and Sasuke?" the Third asked with a raised a eyebrow, and was surprised to see her simply shrug.

"I know Itachi isn't interested in that position, and if Sasuke wishes to achieve that title someday, then he'll be having some serious competition from Naruto. Though I guess that's a good thing; having a rival can be quite rewarding to shinobi." Mikoto finished as Sarutobi handed her the proper papers. She signed over the lines, and gave the Third her word that she would care for Naruto. Then she recieved several scrolls, and she raised an eyebrow, "Hokage-sama, what are these?"

Sarutobi smiled again, "Naruto's family heirlooms...well, they're actually just the few positions that his parents had left to him."

Mikoto's eyes widened, "You mean...you knew of his parents this whole time and-"

Sarutobi raised a hand, and she quieted down, "Mikoto, open the scroll, and read over it. I'm sure you'll understand...since I believe you fought in the Third Shinobi War for awhile before giving birth to Itachi."

Mikoto slowly opened the seal on the scroll, and noticed the rather official look it had, something you would expect to see from the Hokage himself. She noticed a seal on the paper, and she looked to see Sarutobi nod. She let some chakra flow through the seal, and a single letter popped out. She took one look at the envelope, and immediately gasped upon seeing the seal with the kanji for 'fourth' on it. She gave the elderly man a nervous look, and he simply gestured for her to open the letter.

She opened the letter, and noticed the writing was rather hasty on the letter, yet it seemed to carry some urgency as she scanned over it:

_To the future parent(s) of my son,_

_First off, I would like to give you my deepest, heartfelt thanks. I'm sure you know about Naruto's 'condition'. As an expression of my thanks, I wish to give you a small sum of money to help you care for him _(Mikoto almost dropped the letter as she counted off the zeroes)._ Above all else, I ask you to love him as a parent normally would with a child of theirs. I have only barely set eyes on my son, and I can only imagine that he'll grow up to be like me and my wife. If that is the case, then I'm sure he will love you like a family. _

_Another thing I would like to address is the family treasures and heirlooms that Naruto will inherit when he either marries or reaches seventeen years of age, whichever comes first. First off is the numerous scrolls of mine and his mothers being held safely within the Hokage's personal library. Secondly is the Namikaze estate _(Mikoto looked at the name again, and took a few seconds to compose herself)_, and all the property on it. The key to the house is held within one of the seals in this very scroll. However, a seal is also on the doors of the estate's entrance, and only Naruto or the current Hokage will be able to access the house. Lastly is a letter addressed to Naruto. I would greatly appreciate it if you don't show him this letter until he's old enough to understand things better. _

_I have only one small request, and while it isn't of dire importance, I would like it if Naruto be allowed to keep his last name. Kushina was a wonderful women, and I want him to have something to carry on of hers. However, please try and keep him from knowing of my relation to him; I gained many enemies in my lifetime, and if any found out that I had a son, I fear that Naruto's life would be in danger._

_Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Kushina and I owe you a thanks that we cannot give you personally. Pleas accept the money and few items sealed within here as a token of our appreciation and gratitude. May you live happily, and take good care of Naruto._

_Sincerely, _

_Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure_

Mikoto silently set the letter down, and took a moment to collect her thoughts. She felt a migraine coming, and was surprised to see Sarutobi offer her a small saucer of sake, "I felt the same way the night Minato died to seal the Kyuubi within his son. Here take a drink, it'll calm you down."

Mikoto sighed, and took the sake from the man. She drank it down slowly, and then looked at him, "We've all dishonored Minato horribly..." she spoke sadly, "I'm glad I can at least try and start to make up for it."

Sarutobi gave the woman a serene look, "Indeed. I can assume that you're shocked by how much money you've recieved. Before you protest, stop. I'm not taking the money from you; it was in Minato's will that whomever should adopt Naruto recieve the money, and use it to help provide for the family. I know the Uchiha already have a sufficient amount of fortune, but if anything you can save it for Naruto until he's older."

The Uchiha matriarch smiled, "Hokage-sama, thank you. I promise to care for Naruto as if he were my own son...well, I already do, but I'll continue to do so."

Sarutobi gave her a grin, "_Thank you_, Mikoto. You've given a boy a family, and a place to call home. Now then, how would you like to arrange his move from his apartment? I can have several ANBU move his-"

"That won't be necessary, Hokage-sama. Itachi is already on top of things. He apparantly has a small group ready to do so as soon as I notify him." she smiled as she got up, and gave a curt bow, "By the way, Hokage-sama, I'll be scheduling to meet with you in regards to my reinstatement as a part-time Jounin of Konoha sometime with in the next month or so." and with that, she left to leave Sarutobi in a state of surprise and mild joy. Looks like things were turning out okay for the Uchiha clan, despite all that had happened.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Itachi was walking through the park of Konoha, doing a simple patrol. He had been given permission to ditch the crutch, and did so immediately. He was now in his normal Chunin outfit, listening to the sounds of citizens and off-duty shinobi as they walked through the peaceful scenery. Itachi, while a Chunin, was one of a small handful that was also part of ANBU. As a result, he had developed a sense of recognizing others within the group of shinobi under the Hokage's direct command.

"Hello, Kakashi-sempai." spoke Itachi, and an ANBU with silver hair and a dog mask appeared out of nowhere next to him.

"How are you holding up, Itachi?" the man asked, walking up to put a hand on the Uchiha's shoulder.

"Fine. I'll be returning to ANBU duty within a week or so. In the meantime, I'll be patrolling and helping my brother and our soon-to-be brother train." the Uchiha replied.

The silver haired man tilted his head, and Itachi seemed to feel the curiousity coming off of the older man, "Naruto Uzumaki is going to be adopted into our family."

Kakashi let out a gasp, _'Sensei's son? Naruto?'_ Kakashi nodded, "That's great. Naruto Uzumaki...hm, I remember him. He's a troublemaker at times, but I can tell he's a good kid at heart. I've helped him out a few times when he got in trouble, much to the chagrin of several villagers and shinobi. Poor kid's had a tough life..."

Itachi nodded, both knowing the hidden meaning behind those words, _'Because of something that he has no control over.'_ Itachi spoke again, "Sempai...I take it your mission went well?"

Kakashi shrugged, "Could have been better, but we did okay. A few missing-nin to take care of in the area, track down a large sized bandit group. Nothing too special..." Kakashi shrugged, "I'm thinking of hanging up the mask for good in another year or so. It was all good and what not in my younger days, but serving as an ANBU and switching off as Jounin instructor every other year doesn't help. I still haven't seen anything worth my time yet in the younger generations. I'm afraid the idea of teamwork just doesn't seem to be that important to these kids."

Itachi smirked, "Hm...wait another three or four years...Naruto and Sasuke will be Genin, and they will pass. In fact...I think you could even pass them."

Kakashi caught on to the challenge, "Itachi...are you making a bet with me?"

Itachi shrugged, "I'm simply saying that Naruto and Sasuke will make great students, even if they were under your instruction during that infamous bell test of yours."

Kakashi laughed, "Very well, I'll make a bet out of this. If you're right, and I get either one of them as a student and pass them, I'll stop reading Icha Icha for one month."

Itachi new that for Kakashi to say that meant he was serious, and confident, "Fine. If you're right, and neither of them is passed if they're made your students, I'll cut my hair."

Neither of them said a thing, and nodded. Before Kakashi could go, however, Itachi spoke again, "Oh, by the way, Kakashi-sempai, if it wouldn't be much trouble, I'd like you to stop by my family's house later. We're going to need help moving Naruto's things, and I think Sasuke and Naruto would like to meet you."

Kakashi smiled behind his dog mask, "Sounds good, I'll see you around five then."

"Actually, we would prefer you there around three or so." Itachi said. Kakashi nodded, and jumped off into the trees. Itachi smirked; Kakashi would be at the house around five or so for dinner and to help move Naruto's things afterwards.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto and Sasuke were heading out to play on the swing set for an hour before Itachi came to pick them up at the end of his patrol duty. Sasuke had already found his preferred swing, and Naruto was about to go down a slide when he heard some crying, followed by the laughter of several girls. It was very faint, but he heard it.

He looked across the playground to see a group of kids standing in a corner of the playground, all surrounding a girl with a red ribbon in her hair, and the most beautiful pink hair he ever layed eyes on. It was Sakura Haruno! He never actually introduced himself to her, but he found out her name when a boy named Shikamaru Nara told him that she was friends with a girl named Ino, who the lazy boy claimed was a 'troublesome girl his family knew'.

Sakura was crying while kids were laughing at her. Naruto looked to Sasuke, "Hey, Sasuke, I'll be right back, I got to check something."

Sasuke, being the kid he was, knew Naruto didn't just go to 'check something'. He got down from the swing, and groaned as Naruto headed off to the crowd of kids. He was going to get beat up again...

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Tch, you're nothing without Ino around, Forehead Girl!" said a girl, and a few kids laughed at the joke. Sakura kept her head down, and just waited for them to go away. Usually the boys would leave her alone after awhile, but sometimes the girls would push her around. Ino was sick today, so Sakura had no one to stand up to them. That was what she thought anyway...

"Hey, leave her alone! Her forehead is just fine! A lot nicer than _yours _is anyway!" spoke up a voice from behind the group of kids. Sakura looked up to see a blonde haired boy with a white t-shirt and black short with three whisker marks on each cheek. He looked royally ticked off, but she noticed it wasn't at her that he was directing his anger...wait, was he...standing up for her?

"Oh great, it's the loser!" shouted one boy. A few of the other boys laughed, and began to pound their fists into their hands, "Get lost, idiot, or we'll have to beat you up again like last week."

Naruto didn't budge, "Leave her alone then!"

A few of the girls stepped next to the boys, "What does it matter? It's not like she knows you or anything. Mind your own business!"

Naruto grinned at the remark, "Well, I don't like bullies, and it seems you guys are bullying her. That makes it my business. Besides, some day I'm going to be Hokage, and if I can't defend someone who's getting ganged up on, then I don't deserve the title Hokage. Now leave her alone!"

The boys laughed and ran at Naruto. Now, Naruto was tough, that wasn't a lie. However, he wasn't the greatest of fighters, so he was soon sporting a broken lip, and a black eye. The boys punched and kicked him in the gut as the girls laughed before they left...or so they thought, "Hey, what did you do to Naruto?"

The boys and girls all stopped short and looked to see Sasuke Uchiha standing next to a beaten Naruto, "Why do you care about him? He's a loser!" a boy replied, albeit a bit cautiously. Sasuke was at the top of the class; no one really wanted to get on his bad side. A few of the girls were blushing while they looked at him.

"Get out of here, and be thankful I don't beat you up myself." Sasuke said in that 'you _don't_ want to drag this on if you know what's good for you' tone. The boys all but sprinted out of the playground, while the girls hesitantly did so while stealing glances back every now and then. Sasuke sighed, "Geez, Naruto. Kaa-san's going to rip you a new one for getting beat up again. You better hope she's in a good mood and not serving that casserole you hate so much tonight." While Naruto wasn't a family member yet, technically speaking, he did eat over at the Uchiha's quite a bit, at least whenever Fugaku had been on a mission.

Naruto laughed, "Heh, I'm okay Sasuke. How's Sakura doing?"

Sasuke looked over to see the pink haired girl that he knew Naruto had a crush on walking over tentatively. He noticed that while she seemed hesitant at first, she wasn't really paying attention to Sasuke, or blushing, _'Good, looks like she actually has more on her mind than dating...'_ Sasuke said, suddenly seeing why she was so smart. She _did_ have the best grades in history and in tests in most cases.

"Is he okay?" she asked, kneeling down to take a look at him. She gasped as she noticed his bruised face. She dug into her pockets, and pulled out a guaze pad and some tape, "Here, hold still. I'm going to put this on that huge bruise on your cheek." she didn't even wait for an answer from him as she began to apply the gauze to his face. He was blushing like mad the whole time, yet she seemed unaware of it.

He smiled at her after she was done, "Thanks..." he looked at the ground for a minute, then grinned, "My name's Naruto Uzumaki."

Sakura nodded, "I'm Sakura Haruno."

After Naruto was able to stand up, he sighed, "Sorry about those jerks. To be honest, I think they're just jealous of you." he laughed, and Sakura cocked her head to the side.

"What do you mean?" she asked, and noticed Naruto began to blush and sputter out incoherent words.

"Well, uh...you see...I...I..." Naruto began to rub his head and look at the ground, and Sakura was growing worried that maybe he got a concussion when Saskue elbowed him in the side, "I think you're pretty, gah!" he took a step back as he realized he said those words out loud, and looked to see Sasuke smirking.

Sakura looked at the blonde, and she felt something swell inside of her. She felt something like this before when she made friends with Ino last year...but this feeling was a bit different. A _boy_ said she was pretty. A boy! She let a small, shy smile grace her lips, and thought about what Ino said to do when a boy says that to you.

Naruto had his eyes closed, and was sweating like it was the middle of summer because of his embarassment. He suddenly felt a quick, feather light touch on his cheek. He looked slowly to see Sakura pulling back, batting her eyes at him a little. She had a mild blush on her face, and would have made even Itachi go 'Awww!' because of how adorable she looked. Naruto's face heated up, and he did the only thing he knew how to do in such a situation. Laugh like an idiot and grin like he had won the lottery.

Sakura shuffled her feet a bit, and looked up with those emerald orbs, suddenly feeling a bit shaky, "Um...I'll see you tomorrow...Naruto..."

"O-okay, um...Sakura-chan..." he said, and before anything further could be said, she scurried out of the playground while stealing glances every now and then while giggling.

"Man, you just dug yourself a huge hole, Naruto." spoke the drawling voice of Shika. Chouji gave a nod as Akamaru barked.

"Hahaha! Naruto, you got kissed by a girl!" Kiba laughed as he pointed at Naruto. Naruto yelled, 'So?!' and Kiba only further laughed at the blonde.

Sasuke sighed, "Come on, enough being stupid. I still have to beat you guys at climbing the big tree over there." Kiba and Naruto bristled as Sasuke indirectly insulted them, while Shikamaru sighed and Chouji finished his bag to go and join them. Soon the five were playing together on the giant tree like any group of friends would.

An hour passed, and Sasuke and Naruto heard the familiar voice of Itachi, "Sasuke, Naruto, it's time to go."

The two boys said their goodbyes to Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji, and made their way down the tree. The minute Naruto was in sight of Itachi, he felt the older boy's eyes on him, "Um, what's wrong, Itachi?"

Itachi said nothing, and walked up to Naruto. He activated his Sharingan, and after a quick scan of his face and body, nodded to himself before deactivating his bloodline, "Naruto, what have I said about getting into fights?"

Naruto quickly objected, "The kids were teasing, Sakura-chan, and I told them to stop! I swear, I didn't try and start a fight! I was just sticking up for her!"

Itachi's dull expression became curious, "So you were sticking up for someone? Hm...I guess that's a bit more excusable."

"I had to bail him out in the end, though." Sasuke added, earning a 'Hmmph!' from the blonde.

"Well, at least you covered that bruise of his, Sasuke. I'm sure that Kaa-san would have down the same though." Itachi added.

"Sasuke didn't do it, Itachi! Naruto's _girlfriend_ put that guaze pad on his face!" came the voice of Kiba as he and Akamaru came down from the tree, followed by Chouji and Shikamaru.

"Really? So, Sakura-chan's your girlfriend now?" Itachi asked, and was rewarded with a growl from Naruto.

"Grrr! She's not my girlfriend! She's just a girl that I think is pretty who is my friend!" Naruto said, and this got a laugh out of everyone, even the stoic Itachi.

"Yeah, she even kissed him!" Chouji added, and the younger boys laughed while Naruto simply stuck his nose in the air with his arms crossed.

Itachi stood back up and nodded to Kiba, Shika, and Chouji, "Well, you three have a good night. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Itachi!" came the chorus from the three boys, and with that, Naruto, Sasuke, and Itachi headed to the Uchiha compound. All the way there, Itachi couldn't help but wonder how Naruto would react to the news he would recieve tonight.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The minute Sasuke walked into the door, he was barraged with a hug from his mother and a few kisses on the cheeks. Sasuke groaned, but didn't fight back; he did love his mother regardless of how tough he tried to act. She gave Itachi a hug, which he barely returned, and she was used to this. Her boys both loved her, and she knew this.

When she caught sight of Naruto's face, she gasped, "Naruto-kun, what happened? Who did this to you?" she came up and noticed the guaze pad was placed over a bruise (which was almost healed by now). She also noticed a small scratch over his lip seemed to have healed over. She silently reminded herself that Naruto had a rapid healing rate due to the Kyuubi within him.

Naruto and Sasuke gave a quick run down of what had happened, and as soon as Naruto mentioned Sakura putting the pad on his bruise, Mikoto let out a motherly 'Awww, how sweet of her.' Mikoto had the chance of seeing the pink-haired girl. She had to admit, Naruto sure picked the right girl as his first crush. She made a mental note to find out more about Sakura Haruno later on.

Dinner was good, and Itachi even talked every now and then. As dinner came close to ending, a knock was heard at the door. Itachi got up to answer, and he nodded as he noticed who it was, "Ah, Kakashi-sempai, come in."

A man with a green Jounin vest and spiky silver hair walked in. He wore a mask covering his face, and had his hitai-ite covering up his left eye, "Sorry, I was running late. I helped a little girl find her lost puppy and ended up-"

"Kakashi, you really need to work on your lies better." came the voice of Mikoto. Kakashi chuckled a bit, and gave the woman a polite bow, which she returned.

Naruto and Sasuke peeked around the corner, and Kakashi noticed them, "Ah, so these two must be Sasuke and Naruto." Kakashi gave them a polite wave, and the two boys walked out into the hall where the others were.

"Sasuke, Naruto, this is Kakashi Hatake. He's a Jounin and a friend of Itachi's that he sometimes works with." Mikoto explained, and the two boys both gave a polite 'hello' to the older man.

Mikoto looked to Itachi and Kakashi, and the two nodded. Kakashi walked over to the boys, and each put a hand on their heads, "What do you say we go into the living room? I'm not that hungry right now anyway."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto was sitting on the floor with Sasuke while Mikoto, Itachi, and Kakashi sat facing them on the other side. Mikoto felt nervous; she really wanted this to go well, but she couldn't be sure how Naruto and Sasuke would react, "So...Naruto-kun...how do you like spending time here?'

Naruto grinned, "I like it here a lot, Mikoto! The place is so big, and I spending time with Itachi and Sasuke is fun! You're a great cook too, almost as good as the old man at Ichiraku's!"

Mikoto giggled a bit, and smiled, feeling sure that she had made the right choice, "Well...Naruto-kun, how would you like to stay here from now on?"

Naruto cocked his head to the side, then a light bulb seemed to turn on, "You mean, like pay to have a room here?"

Itachi decided to explain, "We mean for you to live with us as a family, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened, "A...f-family?"

Sasuke, on the other hand, was standing up, "Can Naruto really stay with us? Like, live here from now on?" He was trying to hide his excitement, but he really liked the idea of having his best friend live with his family. The boy was already like a second brother to the younger Uchiha.

"I talked to the Hokage, Naruto...he said it's okay to adopt you, and I signed all the papers saying it's okay. I just want to make sure you are happy with this before we move your things here." Mikoto explained further. She saw Naruto tearing up, and he tried to hide it.

"I...I would r-really like that...if it's okay with you..." he looked down, and tears were visible as they hit the matted floor, "...you really want me to be part of your family?"

Mikoto smiled, and instead she walked over to the boy and wrapped him in a hug, "Naruto, nothing would make me happier in regards to you than if you became a part of our family." She smiled as she felt him shake a bit as he sobbed.

Sasuke, while usually not a very expressive boy with emotions like sadness, joy, and excitement, was smiling, "Hey, Nii-san, does that mean I'm an older brother now?"

Itachi smirked a bit, "Yes, you are older than Naruto by a few months, so you are technically an older brother to Naruto now."

Naruto took the oppurtunity to stick his tongue out at the youngest Uchiha, but then smiled as he wiped away a few tears, "So...does that mean you're my mom now?" he asked, looking up at Mikoto with a weak smile. She nodded before hugging him again, a few tears in her own eyes.

Kakashi, Itachi, and Naruto quickly went to Naruto's apartment and sealed the few belongings he had into a couple of scrolls. Mikoto, along with Sasuke's help, cleared a guest room for Naruto to have. That night at the Uchiha clan household was filled with laughter as the bright and cheerful Naruto was taken into the the Uchiha clan as a son and brother.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kakashi stood outside the Uchiha clan house entrance as Mikoto and Itachi followed him out. He turned to them both and smiled under his mask, "You know, I think I'm going to retire from ANBU next week..." spoke the silver haired nin.

Mikoto raised an eyebrow, "Really? Why would that be?"

Itachi and him shared a silent conversation with their eyes, and Kakashi shrugged, "Hm, I don't know. I guess I need to lay back for awhile. Those constant missions are starting to wear me down. I think I might just settle back to elite Jounin status." he gave them a wave, "If you ever need help, you know where to find me."

Mikoto and Itachi nodded, and with that, Kakashi dissapeared in a puff of smoke.

"I'll get the two off to bed." Itachi said as he headed inside.

"Itachi," Mikoto called back.

"Yes, Kaa-san?"

"Are you aware of Naruto's heritage?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yes, Hokage-sama informed me ealier today after you stopped by to sign the adoption papers. I must say, I'm quite surprised. He'll be keeping his own clan name, I assume?"

Mikoto nodded, "Yes, but he is still a part of our family."

Itachi laughed, "I must admit, he'll be quite a handful. However, I find his attitude to be a welcome change around here..." he was quiet for a few seconds, "I only hope that perhaps the village will start to see him in a new light...did you know he got a kiss from that Sakura girl today?"

Mikoto turned to her eldest son, "Did he now? I imagine he enjoyed it."

Itachi shrugged, "Sasuke and Naruto's friends gave him trouble, but I think Naruto liked it either way."

Mikoto smiled, and walked inside. Tomorrow she would take Naruto shopping and get hims some new clothes and a few other things he would need. She felt a little better since the attack now that she had a new addition to the family.

Indeed...life was looking better for the Uchiha clan...

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

**Four years later**

Naruto was sitting in the kitchen eating a bowl of oatmeal with apple slices and some brown sugar. He had been making breakfast for himself, since his mother was busy in the morning with her part-time duty as a kunoichi again. Sasuke was an early riser, and was usually up at the crack of dawn. Itachi would sometimes eat with Naruto if he had time off from ANBU. Four years ago, Naruto would have probably said that he would never have been part of a family, let alone one like the Uchiha. However, here he was in the main household kitchen, eating oatmeal at a slow pace.

Naruto was still the same goof that he always had been, but unlike when he was younger, he only pulled pranks to get even with people instead of to get attention. Naruto wore a dark blue wind-breaker designed for shinobi, with a few stripes of orange running down the arms and sides. His pants were a dark blue as well, with similar orange stripes running down the sides of them. On shoulders he had the Uchiha crest, courtesy of Mikoto. However, he also had a spiral design on the back in bright orange, a design he for some reason had found that he was quite fond of. It was his favorite jacket, and while it did have bits of orange in it, it was deemed appropriate enough to be considered shinobi attire in Itachi's eyes. Now if only Naruto's love for orange were fixed...

Sasuke walked in, and spotted his brother and his blonde hair slumped over the chair at the table. Sasuke had breakfast almost two hours ago, and they would have to be at the Academy in an hour. They usually left together, and for good reason. It was more for Sasuke's benefit than Naruto's; even the great Sasuke Uchiha needed help with his fangirl problem. Naruto was a natural at henging, and he managed to usually fool the girls when taking on the appearance of the Uchiha. They would split apart when being chased, and manage to lose the girls within a few minutes at max.

"Naruto, come on, we need to get going soon." Sasuke said, recieving a wave of acknowledgment from the blonde.

"I know, just give me a few minutes to finish my breakfast." Naruto wolfed down the last few bites, and quickly rinsed his plate off before setting it in the sink. The two boys then walked out, and headed towards the academy.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura Haruno stood patiently outside the flower shop for her best friend, Ino. They would then wait for Naruto and Sasuke to both arrive, usually from different directions, and leave together for the Academy.

"Hey, Forehead." Ino said casually, and Sakura waved Ino to Ino with a smile.

"So...you think that we can seriously pass the exam today? I mean...we studied all last night...but, Iruka-sensei never told us what was going to be on the test..." Sakura said as the two girls waited.

"I'm not sure. Hopefully it will be something easy like handling weapons, because I'm still not one hundred percent sure about Konoha history." Ino replied.

The sound of feet landing to their left got both girls to turn. Sasuke stood their, panting a bit, and he grinned, "Hey, Sakura-chan, Ino."

Both girls rolled their eyes, and Sakura spoke with a laugh, "Geez, Naruto. Were the fangirls that bad today? Man, I hate to see them on the way home today..."

Sasuke laughed, and with a puff of smoke, Naruto Uzumaki appeared. Seconds later, Sasuke casually rounded a corner with both hands in his pockets. He smirked at Naruto, "Geesh, that redhead almost got you today." Naruto sighed.

"You know, if you would just tell them to back off, maybe they would stop chasing you." Naruto said, "The only reason I do this is because you're family, you know."

Sasuke groaned, "I've_ tried_ telling them to leave me alone. They don't listen, or they think I'm just playing hard to get. I swear, I don't get you girls sometimes..."

Ino and Sakura both shrugged, "Hey, at least we're not chasing you around the village."

Sasuke chuckled a bit, "You don't chase me because you've got Naruto wrapped around your finger, Sakura." This got a blush from the pink haired girl and blonde, and a Ino giggled a bit.

"I...I don't know what you're talking about, Sasuke. Naruto and I are just really close friends." she said, but couldn't help but look at Naruto as she said this. He gave a (very) unconvincing nod, and she fought down her Inner Self from breaking through and making her yell that Naruto and her simply weren't ready to date yet...even after four years as best friends. Truth be told, Sakura was very fond of Naruto. She was one of the few people that had seen the real him. Aside from the Uchihas, Iruka-sensei, and the few close friends that Naruto made, everyone continued to see him as the idiotic kid who barely made it in class.

Ino shook her head and said something that sounded like "Denial..." but Sakura didn't really care. Ino had been telling Sakura to just start dating the blonde, but neither her nor Naruto, despite the obvious fact that they cared for each other, were quite sure they should be boyfriend and girlfriend.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The four Academy students walked into the classroom, and Sasuke immediately felt the eyes on him. Naruto snickered, and Sasuke shot him a disgruntled look before letting a smirk cross his face; Naruto found the whole situation with the girls to be quite funny. Aside from Sakura, Ino, well, Ino sometimes flirted, and Hinata, every girl worshipped the ground the Uchiha walked on. Naruto was just glad that Sasuke and him were family, otherwise all the jabs he made at Sasuke would be grounds for the girls to attack each other.

"All right class, as you can probably guess, today is your final exam. Pass, and you'll be made into Genin. Fail, and you'll have to go back to the Academy for another year." spoke Iruka, and he looked over his clipboard, "Now then, I'll read your names off, and you are to report to the side room where you'll be asked to perform a the _**Bunshin no Jutsu**_..." he called off the first name, and a random boy walked out the door to take the test.

Naruto was panicking, "Aw crud, not that! I stink at the _**Bunshin no Jutsu**_..." Naruto slumped in his chair, beating his head against the table surface.

"Naruto, calm down, panicking won't help you." Sasuke said, while deep down he knew just how bad Naruto's situation was. Even after all the extra training with Itachi, their mother, and Kakashi, Naruto's chakra control was next to abysmal. The one upside of this was that he had so much chakra he could waste it like no tomorrow performing techniques.

Sakura looked to in front of her, and frowned. As bad as he was in class, he _was _a good shinobi in training. He was the only one in class that could remain hidden during stealth drills until Iruka had to go looking for him. Sasuke was the only other one that came close to finding him, and that was only half the time that he was able to locate the blonde.

As the names were called off, it soon came down to Naruto's turn. Sasuke was holding his Leaf hitai-ite, and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Naruto...even if you don't pass...it doesn't mean you're a failure. Remember what Nii-san always said..."

Naruto nodded, "I know, "A ninja never stops learning, even at old age. If they do, then they won't last long in battle." Well..." Naruto gripped his fists tightly, and sighed, "Here goes nothing..."

Sakura, who was also fastening her hitai-ite to her forehead, watched as Naruto walked out the door, "Naruto...do your best..."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto stood there with his head looking down, and he quickly dispelled his second attempt at a _**Bunshin no Jutsu**_.

"I'm sorry, Naruto...but you fail..." Iruka said as he felt his own face drop to a frown. He truly liked Naruto, despite the fact that he was a class clown. He knew deep down that underneath all those grins was a boy who had dealt with serious loneliness, and only because of a small group of people was he slowly becoming a better person.

"Okay..." Naruto said hollowly, and walked out with a slump in his shoulders. He didn't even bother going back to the classroom, and simply went to his usual spot on the swing outside. Iruka sighed as he left. Mizuki let a small smirk form on his face.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sasuke walked out to see Naruto sitting under the shady tree, pushing back gently as he watched all the parents congratulating their children for graduating. He then saw his mother and older brother walk into the Academy grounds.

"Sasuke, great job! I knew you could do it..." she suddenly paused when she noticed a certain blond was missing, "Where's Naruto...?"

Sasuke looked over to said boy, and Mikoto followed. She suddenly understood what was going on, and sighed with a hint of sadness. She walked over to the boy, and she noticed him look up before he looked back down in shame.

"I failed...horribly..." Naruto said, and she sensed the self-loathing in his voice as he said those words. She wrapped her arms around her adopted son, and cradled him as he merely sat there, silent and unmoving, "I failed...again..."

"Shh, don't say such things. You're not a failure in my eyes, Naruto, nor Sasuke's or Itachi's. You are who you are, and we know how talented you are. I'm sure that you'll do well next year..." Mikoto had half a mind to request Naruto to be brought up to Genin level by the Hokage himself, but she knew that the chances were slim to none, even if Sarutobi cared for the boy.

"Kaa-san's right, Naruto," spoke a familiar voice, and Naruto looked up, only to frown some more, feeling even more ashamed than before. If there was anyone he felt that he had let down, it was Itachi. The Uchiha heir had spent hours working with Naruto when he could have been taking missions. Naruto felt that he had made Itachi waste his time, and gripped the ropes of the swing until his knuckles were white, "Naruto, stop that right now. You're stronger than this..."

"Itachi..." Mikoto said, trying to comfort Naruto. She and Itachi, while both caring for Naruto deeply, had different ways of trying to help him.

"No, it's okay, Kaa-san..." Naruto said, and he wiped away unshed tears, and forced a grin on his face, "I'll just blow them all away next year!" He let out a laugh, and Mikoto frowned. Naruto still hid his negative feelings, even when the people he was acting in front of knew it was fake. It was Naruto's way of protecting himself from being hurt emotionally, she concluded after years with the boy.

Sasuke walked up to him, and put a hand out, "Naruto, we both know that you're a good shinobi. I don't care what everyone else says about you, because you're my brother, and I know you could kick anyone's butt...except for Kaa-san, Nii-san and mine." he smirked, and Naruto laughed a bit, a genuine smile on his face.

Naruto suddenly noticed a flash of pink, and saw Sakura approaching the family, "Hi, Naruto..." she gave him a sad smile, "You'll graduate next year, I know it."

Naruto nodded, "Thanks, Sakura-chan." he knew that she was just trying to comfort him.

"Hello, Sakura-chan...where is your mother?" Mikoto asked, looking around for anothe flash of pink, but found none.

"Oh, my mother's working late, and Ino's celebrating with her family right now. I'm just going to walk home by myself. I just wanted to say hi to you before I left home." she explained.

"Naruto, why don't you walk Sakura-chan home? We'll make you ramen when we get home, okay?" Mikoto suggested, and Naruto's spirits perked up.

"Ramen?! Yeah!" he jumped up, but then stopped himself as he realized that things were still not as good as they could be, "Okay...um, ready to go, Sakura-chan?"

The pink-haired girl nodded a little, and she and Naruto left together, hand in hand. Mikoto giggled a little at the sight. They were positively adorable together.

"Kaa-san...you know that you shouldn't try and play matchmaker...especially when they're more than likely to get together later on anyway..." Itachi said, letting out a sigh. He seriously wondered about his mother's age sometimes.

"Oh, stop being so worried, Itachi. Besides, that's what she wanted Naruto to do." she said, and with a dreamy sigh, headed home with her two sons, planning on making a steaming bowl of miso ramen for the third along with a cake for Sasuke.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura and Naruto walked together quietly, hand in hand. She ignored the glares directed towards the blonde next to her. She had noticed them for a few years now, but when she asked Naruto, he simply shook his head, saying it wasn't anything to worry about. She guessed that he himself didn't know why either.

When they reached the front steps of Sakura's house, she turned around to face the blonde, "Um...thanks for walking me home, Naruto..." she looked away and blushed a bit, "You know...my mom wishes you'd stop over more often...she really wants to spend time with your mom too."

Naruto grinned, "Okay, I'll make sure to visit again soon, and tell Kaa-san to stop by." Naruto rubbed the back of his head, a nervous habit he picked up on years ago. Sakura knew he wanted to say more, but she decided to take advantage of the silent.

A quick peck on the cheek was what Naruto recieved, and he turned to see Sakura smiling a little with a light blush on her face, "Um...well, I'll see you later, Naruto..."

"Heheh, okay, Sakura-chan." Naruto nodded, and watched as Sakura walked up to her door, unlock it, then go inside. He shook his head, and laughed; girls were confusing sometimes. He turned around, heading towards the Uchiha compound, and to ramen.

Naruto was walking home when he heard a voice, "Hello, Naruto. I was looking for you."

Naruto spun around, and quirked an eyebrow, "Mizuki-sensei? What are you doing here?"

Mizuki smiled, "I wanted to talk to you about something. There's another way to become a Genin...and I thought I would let you in on the secret..."

**end of Chapter Two- Huzaah! Update no Jutsu! Hm...well, I guess I'm somewhat satisfied with this. I know I made a huge jump in time and skipped four years. I'll leave that part to your imagination. Needless to say, Sakura is **_**very**_** close friends with Naruto, and Sasuke's not a total anti-social kid. I realize a few of you don't like the pairing of Sakura and Naruto, but I will be putting the two together. Sorry if I dissapointed any of you, but they are one of my favorite pairings. I'm still debating on whether I'll be pairing Sasuke with anyone; mind you, this is not the same as the canon series, so I may pair him with someone other than one of the usuals, or I may not pair him at all. There's also the fact that a few more people are friends with Naruto and Sasuke...oh yeah, and Sakura and Ino don't worship Sasuke like he's an Adonis. I tweaked a few other things, like Kakashi meeting Naruto and Sasuke earlier in life as well. I'm going to have fun with this tid bit of information later. I'm sure a few of you can guess what will happen next. Well, let me know what you think! Later!**

_**Bunshin no Jutsu**__**-- Clone Technique-**__**(original)-**_ A basic technique taught to every Academy student. The user makes a copy of themselves without any substance. The copy serves as a distraction, and can function just like the user in movements. As soon as the copy makes contact with the opponent or is attacked, however, it disperses.


	3. The Reason

**Disclaimer: Hey, everyone! I don't own Naruto! Oh, don't feel bad though, since you probably don't either...unless you're Masashi Kishimoto...and if you are...well, then I feel honored that you're looking at this. Ahem, anyway, on with chapter three!**

**Glowing Embers in the Wind**

**  
Chapter Three: The Reason **

"Hokage-sama, we have to find him, and we have to find him now! He's gone too far this time!" spoke a random Chunin amongst a group of shinobi that had been summoned before the Hokage during the middle of the night. A general murmer of agreement was made, and the old man sighed.

"Enough. Find Naruto, and make sure that you bring him back here _safely._ I'm sure there's more to this than we're aware of." Sarutobi spoke, and then he gave them the signal to leave. In a burst of wind and leaves, the group of shinobi were gone.

The Third Hokage pinched the bridge of his nose, and looked up to the Hokage Monument behind him. He looked at the fourth face on the far right, and sighed, "Minato...what I wouldn't do to have you here with him sometimes..."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto bounded through the trees, and landed in a small clearing next to a shack. He had done it, he had successfully retrieved the Scroll of Sealing from the Old Man's place, and now he only had to learn a simple jutsu from the scroll and then he would be able to become a Genin. He grinned, and plopped onto the grass while unraveling the scroll.

"Now...let's see...hmmm, _**Shiki Fuujin**_...ew..._corpse_ spirit sealing? Now way...hm...hey, what's this?" Naruto looked closely at the scroll, and groaned, "Aw, man, another clone technique...wait...Shadow Clone?" Naruto studied it, and shrugged, "Why not?" Naruto stood up, and cracked his knuckles, "Time to learn a new jutsu! Man, Itachi and Sasuke will be blown away when they see this!"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Iruka had been searching for almost an hour when he suddenly saw a flash of orange. He smirked, that blue jacket was great overall, but Iruka had keen vision ideal for shinobi, so it wasn't hard to pick out the streaks of orange on the otherwise dark jacket.

He hopped closer to the clearing, and landed quietly. Naruto seemed unaware of his presence, and he walked up to face Naruto while the boy was still breathing heavily, his eyes closed as he tried to catch his breath.

"So...this is where you were..." Iruka said, and Naruto looked up and jumped a bit.

"There you are, Iruka-sensei! I was wondering when I'd run into you!" Naruto grinned, and Iruka took a closer look to see he had indeed been training. What could tire out a bundle of raw energy like Naruto so easily though? A thin layer of sweat was visible on the boy's face, and his hair was matted against his forehead. He was chuckling though, so he must be pleased about something.

"Naruto, why did you steal the Hokage's Scroll of Sealing? That scroll contains some very powerful and forbiddden techniques." Iruka forced a frown on his face, and Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Forbidden? But...Mizuki-sensei said that if I get this scroll, learn a technique from it, and come to this spot, then I could graduate and become a Genin!" Naruto replied in confusion.

"Wait...Mizuki said that?" Iruka suddenly heard the sound of projectiles cutting through the air. He quickly pushed Naruto away, and then put his arms up as he was pinned to the wall of the shack by a couple shuriken.

"Well, well...Iruka, I'm surprised to see _you_ here. Thanks for helping me find the brat..." Mizuki appeared from the darkness, a large shuriken that dwarfed the ones thrown earlier in his hands, "Naruto, give me that scroll, now!"

Iruka turned to Naruto as he yanked a shuriken from his thigh, "No, Naruto, don't listen to him! He's trying to steal that scroll from Konoha!"

Mizuki laughed, "Oh, you're a fast one, Iruka, I'll give you that!" Mizuki grinned menacingly, and pointed to Naruto, "Naruto, Iruka's trying to keep you from passing! That's why he wouldn't let you pass! Haven't you ever wondered why he never offered extra help? Why he _always_ yelled at you?"

Naruto gave Mizuki a concerned look, then turned to Iruka briefly, then back to the white haired Academy teacher, "What do you mean?"

Mizuki laughed, "Oh, that's right...you never were told about your secret..."

Iruka went wide-eyed, "Mizuki, no!! That information is forbidden by the Third Hokage!"

Naruto looked to Iruka, "What information?"

"Naruto, don't listen to Mizuki! Give me the scroll and we'll take Mizuki to the Hokage so he can be dealt with." Iruka drew a kunai, and gritted his teeth as his legs throbbed in pain. He blocked off the sharp pain, and drew a breath, "Mizuki, stop this! Why are you doing this?"

Mizuki laughed yet again, "You wouldn't even be able to understand the very beginning of my reasons, Iruka!" Mizuki smirked, "Naruto...have you ever wondered why you were always left alone when you were younger? Why everyone still glares at you, even though you're a part of a family now? Why no one ever helped you in the Academy and let you struggle back when you first started out?" he grinned as Naruto seemed to be taking a step back. Iruka was yelling for him to stop, but it was too late, "The reason why, Naruto, is because of what happened twelve years ago! The Kyuubi no Youko attacked Konoha twelve years ago, and the Yondaime Hokage died supposedly defeating the fox. However the truth is that the Demon Fox was too powerful to be killed, so the Yondaime died sealing the fox inside the body of a infant born on the tenth night of October, the same night the Kyuubi attacked!"

Naruto was paralyzed with shock, already piecing together what Mizuki was saying, "You...mean?"

Mizuki began to spin the shuriken around on his back, "Yes, Naruto! You are the Nine-Tailed Fox! The incarnation of the Kyuubi itself!" he laughed maniacally, and he grinned, "Now then, die, Demon!"

Naruto was frozen stiff and watched as the massive shuriken went flying at him. He almost felt like just letting it hit as he processed the information. Time seemed to slow down. He balled his fists, waiting for his death...

_Splurch!_

The sound of metal hitting flesh was heard. Naruto opened his eyes, expecting to see the shuriken imbedded in his chest...instead, he saw a face of a teary-eyed Iruka looking down at him, "Naruto...I'm sorry...I really should've paid more attention to you..."

Naruto looked to see that Iruka had blocked the shuriken's path, taking it in the back, narrowly missing his spinal cord, "Iruka-sensei...why?"

He laughed, "I guess...you reminded me of myself when I was younger...I had no family after the Kyuubi attacked..." Naruto looked away, "I was angry at first...but I realized you're not to blame..."

Naruto looked up at him in disbelief, "Wha-what?"

Iruka shed a few more tears, feeling the years of bottled up grief and guilt hitting him, "It must have been tough...living alone for almost eight years...I'm sorry, Naruto...maybe if I had been a better teacher, then maybe I could have helped you sooner. I wish that the village could have seen through the thing inside of you, and realized that you're just another boy striving to be a ninja..."

Mizuki clapped, "That's beautiful, Iruka, if not a bit morbid as well." Mizuki pulled out a second shuriken, "I'll deal with you first, then I'll take care of the demon brat!"

Iruka yanked out the shuriken in his back, and tossed it to the side, "Naruto...I'm sorry this had to happen...but I need you to help me..."

Naruto nodded, and made his hands into a seal he hadn't used before, "I can handle him!" Naruto began to gather chakra, "I'll show you my newest technique, jerk, and beat you to a pulp with it!"

Mizuki snorted, "Please, you're not even a ninja! What could you possibly do with the amount of experience you have?"

Naruto grinned, "Just watch! _**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**_"

The sound of a couple hundred puffs of smoke was made, and Mizuki was soon looking at an entire army of Naruto Clones...real ones...not illusions. He went bug-eyed, "Wha?"

A few of the clones grinned, "Well, aren't you going to attack?" After a few seconds of no reply, one of them laughed, "Looks like we'll be making the first move!"

The sounds of screaming were heard as Mizuki was dealt the beating of his life.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Itachi had been running through the woods in search of his adopted younger brother when he heard a scream of pain. He headed towards the direction, and within a few seconds was looking down upon a clearing filled with Shadow Clones of Naruto. In the midst of the fray was Iruka leaning against a tree with the scroll of sealing, and Mizuki, unconcious and bruised beyond easy recognition.

Itachi watched as Iruka called Naruto over to him, and congratulated him for putting up such a good fight and not handing over the scroll. It seems that Mizuki was behind this.

Naruto was then told to close his eyes, and Itachi let a small smile cross his face as Iruka untied his hitai-ite and placed around Naruto's head. He decided to make his presence known, and jumped down from the trees, "Iruka, I see you found Naruto."

Iruka and Naruto both looked up, and Iruka nodded as he slowly got up, "Yes...it seems there was more behind this than we thought. Naruto had been tricked into stealing the Scroll of Sealing by Mizuki...but in the end, everything was taken care of. Naruto stopped Mizuki, and proved his ability as a ninja."

Naruto beamed with pride, "Itachi, look! I'm a Genin now!"

Itachi nodded, "Well done, Naruto. Still, there are some things that need to be taken care of. Kaa-san is worried sick about you, and when Sakura found out about you going missing she started panicking. We need to meet with the Hokage and explain all of this."

Naruto nodded, and with Iruka and Itachi picking up an unconcious Mizuki, the trio left to speak with the Third. Little did they know that a certain old man had just put away a crystal ball and was currently smoking contentedly on a pipe. Naruto was definitely a boy of many surprises.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto sat quietly in his room as the sun began to peek over the horizon. He had just got home with Itachi after explaining to the Third of what happened. Sarutobi told Naruto that he was proud of Naruto for doing the right thing in the end, and Iruka promised to treat Naruto to Ichiraku ramen sometime in the future.

Naruto wasn't happy right now however. He looked in a mirror, and frowned as he looked at the whisker marks on his cheeks. He frowned and looked out the window. It all made sense now...the glareds...the cold looks he received...he gritted his teeth, and banged his fists against a pillow. Why? Why him?

A knock at his door got his attention, and he looked to see a smiling face of his mother, and he looked away. Mikoto frowned sadly; Itachi had informed her that he found out about him being a Jinchuuriki, "Naruto, honey, look at me."

Naruto shook his head, and tears began to form in his eyes, "Why did you take me in if you knew what I was?"

Mikoto said nothing for a moment, and instead wrapped her arms around her blonde-haired boy, "Naruto...if you think that you are the Kyuubi, even for a second, stop it right now. You're _not_ a demon, you're a boy. A boy with a family that loves him, and cares for him deeply."

"I'm not just a boy...I'm a Jinchuuriki...a demon vessel..." Naruto looked up into the black, peaceful eyes of his mother, and he looked away, "How many Uchiha members died on that night...?"

Mikoto sighed, "I'm not too sure...half of the clan maybe...but that doesn't matter. You're not responsible for what happened."

Naruto let the tears finally fall, "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be..." Mikoto replied.

Naruto swallowed tightly, "Mom? How long did you know of the-?"

"Ever since you were born." she replied, and he nodded.

"What about Itachi?" Naruto asked.

She continued to hold him, "Probably since he became a Chunin...the Hokage informed him the day he started watching over you during the late afternoon times."

Naruto let go, "I'm going to tell Sasuke tomorrow..."

Mikoto put her arms on either of his shoulders, "Itachi and I will be there with you, allright? Is there anyone else you want to tell?"

Naruto thought about Sakura and Ino for a moment, then Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji, "Not right now..."

Mikoto nodded, "Kakashi also knows too, if it makes you feel any better. He still cares about you all the same too."

Naruto gave her a smile, a bit strained, but it was there, "Okay..." he paused for a moment, "It's going to take some time for me to get used to this...but..." he hugged his mother a final time, "...thanks, Mom."

She rubbed his back, and kissed his forehead, "There's no need to thank me; you're my son, and I'll love you no matter what happens."

Naruto was soon fast asleep in his mother's arms, and she quietly tucked him in and set his alarm so that he could wake up tomorrow morning in time to head out with Sasuke to have his team assigned to him.

As Mikoto closed Naruto door, she was greeted by her eldest son, "Is he going to be allright?"

Mikoto nodded, realizing Itachi was having a rare moment of concern for one of his younger brothers show, "He's had a long night...but I know that he'll get through this in the end. He wants to tell Sasuke about it tomorrow."

Itachi nodded, "I'll try and get some time off tomorrow then, and I'll be sure to get Kakashi over as well. He's practically an uncle to the boys."

Mikoto laughed, "He's also a perverted man at times, and I don't approve of his choice of reading."

Itachi shrugged, "Well, if things go my way, he won't be reading any Icha Icha for a month..."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto woke up to the sound of his alarm, and groaned as he blinked out the sleep in his eyes. He then remembered that today he would be assigned his team, and he jumped out of bed, quickly throwing on his clothes. He was about to run out of his room, when he noticed a flash of metal , and saw his forehead protector on his dresser. He laughed, and quickly tied it on. He then bounded down the steps, and was greeted by the smell of eggs; Itachi was cooking breakfast today!

"Morning, Naruto." Sasuke said with a wave. He found out about Naruto's little event last night, minus a few important details, but the thing that mattered the most to him was that he was now a Genin as well.

"Hey, Sasuke." Naruto then turned to the young man in front of the stove top, and grinned, "Itachi, you got a day off or something?"

Itachi nodded, "I figured I deserve a day off, and my team doesn't find anything wrong with that either." he handed Naruto a plate of eggs and two slices of toast with an apple, "I expect that apple gone, too. Kaa-san's been on your case about eating fruits and vegetables for over two years. Now that you're a Genin, you better start eating healthier."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at Itachi, then dug into his plate. Sasuke was quietly sipping some tea, having already finished breakfast. As Naruto finished his meal, he sighed with satisfaction, "Thanks, Itachi. I'll see you later!"

Sasuke headed out the door in front of Naruto, and just before the blonde exited the house, Itachi called to him, "Naruto."

Naruto turned to see Itachi standing behind him, "I'll be here when you want to talk to Sasuke later on today about that certain topic...okay?"

Naruto gave a weak smile, "Thanks...Itachi."

Itachi nodded, "Go on now, before Sasuke gets ahead of you to try and steal Sakura from you."

Naruto growled at the obvious teasing from his older brother, "Shut up! She's _not_ my girlfriend!"

Itachi raised an eybrow, "Did I ever say she was?"

Naruto yelled in frustration, and bounded off to catch up with Sasuke.

Sakura was surprised to see both Sasuke and Naruto standing outside when Ino and her walked out the door of the flower shop. Ino laughed at how Naruto's headband was too loose for him, and then asked how he got to be a Genin. Sasuke was the one to reply, saying that some things were taken into consideration, and he passed. Naruto nodded, thankful his brother was a genius sometimes.

Ino shrugged, and the four began to head to the Academy. Sakura walked over to Naruto, and smiled, "Naruto, who do you think our teammates will be?"

Naruto rubbed his chin, "I don't know. Truthfully I don't mind, but I think I may have a problem with Kiba. He can be a real jerk sometimes, but I guess that I wouldn't mind still..." he lowered his voice a bit, "I don't know if Ino and I should be on the same team though...she can be real scary when she's angry...as nice as she is."

Sakura giggled, and Ino sneezed. Sasuke turned to the two, and rolled his eyes. Why wouldn't his brother just ask her out, already? The only thing that could possibly be more annoying than being around them and their weird behavior was if they were on the same team as him...well, at least they would know each other.

They arrived about ten minutes early, and they all took seats next to each other. Iruka walked in shortly after, and grinned to his students, "Well, I'm both happy and disappointed that this may be the last time I'll ever see you in a chair before me. However, you're all Genin now, and as such, shinobi of Konoha. Always remember what that means to you, and keep it with you, for a shinobi of the Leaf carries the Will of Fire, and that is what gives us strength. I hope that all of you become fine shinobi in your own way, and I'm sure that I'll be hearing about your accomplishments in the future..." he paused for a moment before taking a look at his clipboard, "Now then, I will call out your names, and designate which teams you will all be on."

Naruto was hardly listening for awhile, still pondering on what he would be doing later tonight when he got home. His mom and Itachi would be there to help him...but he was worried about what Sasuke would think. Would Sasuke hate him? Would he be afraid of him? He didn't know. Sasuke would most likely not even give a visible clue as to what he felt; Sasuke was sometimes as hard to read as Itachi. Only years with the Uchiha family had given him the rare gift of being able to read beyond the blank and indifferent expressions of Itachi and sometimes Sasuke. It was almost a trade secret, since aside from a few other shinobi such as Sarutobi and Kakashi, almost no one could understand the Uchiha brothers.

Naruto suddenly perked up when he heard his name, "Team Seven will consist of Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno," a whistle from Kiba was heard, followed by a death threat from Naruto, and Iruka telling the two to pipe down, "and Sasuke Uchiha. Allright, everyone, you'll only have to wait here, and your Jounin-sensei will be here to meet up with you."

Naruto looked over to Sasuke, who smirked a bit, "Well, looks like we lucked out, eh, Sasuke?"

Sasuke shrugged, "It will be easier working with you, I guess. You're probably one of the best when it comes to stealth in this class. I wonder who we're getting for sensei though..."

Sakura smiled a bit, looking to Naruto. Though she was quiet on the outside, her inner self was doing cartwheels and dancing like no tomorrow. She was on a team with Naruto! She couldn't have asked for anything better. Not only that, but Sasuke was part of their team too! Two of friends were on a team with her. A small part of her was disappointed that Ino and here were separated, but Sakura knew she'd still see her.

First to arrive was a woman with red pupils and black hair. She was a rather beautiful woman, and she seemed to give of an aura of mystery, wisdom, and deadliness typical of Jounin kunoichi. Kurenai Yuuhi smiled as she caught sight of Hinata Hyuuga among the students. She was interested in teaching her in particular, seeing as she had heard a bit of Hinata's background and the fact that she was the supposed heir to the Hyuuga clan...thought that was a shaky topic these days, "Will Team Eight please follow me?"

Kiba, Shino, and Hinata all got up and quietly followed her out of the classroom (Naruto would have thrown a punch to Kiba's face, but Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the collar of his jacket beforehand). Shortly afterwards, a man with a rather dark, yet very well trimmed beard came into the room. The faint smell of smoke hung on him, and he wore a grin on his face that spoke millions of things about his character, "I'm Asuma Sarutobi, the sensei of Team Ten. Follow me, I'll be taking you guys out for some lunch."

Shikamaru groaned from the back, and Chouji got up rather quickly upon hearing about the offer of food. Ino walked passed Sakura, and waved goodbye to her as she followed her two oddball teammates. Though she seemed to be a bit annoyed, a faint smile hung on her lips that Sakura noticed. It seemed Ino wasn't too disappointed with the choice of teams.

Slowly, the other kids filed out with their respective Jounin. Eventually it was just Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto. They had been waiting for almost two hours now.

"Hey, Sasuke...your turn." Naruto spoke as he pointed to a picture of half of a man hanging from a gallow. The three had decided to pass the time with a game of hangman on the chalkboard, and currently Sasuke's turn.

The door opened suddenly, and Naruto laughed as a cloud of chalk dust exploded in the face of a masked shinobi. Naruto continued laughing until he suddenly paled upon realizing who it was, "Kakashi?? You're our sensei?!"

Kakashi Hatake sighed, already a bit miffed at the whole predicament he had been thrown into. He was happy to have two talented students, because he knew that Naruto and Sasuke were both really good. He knew a little about Sakura from Naruto, and meet her once or twice, but most of his information came from Iruka. She was book smart, and had a very sharp mind. He had indeed been given a rare gem of a team.

However...he wasn't thrilled at the fact that he'd be the one to fail them instead of being the one to teach them. He had yet to ever pass a single Genin team, and until he did, he would never, ever, enjoy being a Jounin-sensei.

"Yeah, the Hokage decided to punish me for being late to a few meetings of ANBU years ago by making me your teacher. Oh, by the way, Naruto, I'll be stopping by later, okay?" Kakashi replied, and Naruto gave a nod, catching on to the hidden meaning. Looks like he wanted to be there to help Naruto as well.

Naruto frowned, "What's _that_ supposed to mean? If I had known you would be our sensei, I would have just went to get something to eat and take a nap before you got here. What a waste of good chalk dust."

Kakashi shook his head, mumbling something about pranksters, "Okay you three, meet me up on the roof. We'll get to reintroduce ourselves and such." With that said, Kakashi dissapeared in a swirl of smoke.

Sasuke sighed, "Great, Captain Tardy is our sensei...we'll never get anything done with him."

Sakura shrugged, "He's not that bad, Sasuke. Besides, he's already taught you and Naruto a few things, and your brother used to work with him didn't he?"

Sasuke nodded, "Itachi says he was one of the worst ANBU in regards to punctuality...but he had the fewest amount of failed missions next to Itachi."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, not to mention he's the only other guy that has the Sharingan right now besides Itachi. Once you get yours awakened, Sasuke, I'm sure you'll get training from him and Itachi."

The trio of Genin eventually reached the roof, and looked to see Kakashi leaning on a railing while reading Icha Icha. Naruto pointed to him, "You're still reading that?!"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he pocketed his book, and smiled behind his mask, "Naruto, reading shouldn't be considered a bad thing."

Naruto decided to hold back a retort, and sat down next to Sakura. Kakashi, along with a few others, was aware of the awkward feelings of friendship between the two. He was actually notorious for giving Naruto a hard time about it, but not to the same extent as Kiba was, "Okay then, let's start off by introducing yourself. Sakura, you first."

Sakura gave an awkward grin, "Kakashi...do we really-?"

"First off, it's Kakashi-_sensei_, and secondly, yes, I think it's an important part of becoming a team. So, go on." Kakashi interrupted, and waved his hand for her to continue, "Just tell us about your name, likes, dislikes, dreams...that sort of stuff."

Sakura nodded, "Okay, well, as you all know, I'm Sakura Haruno. My likes include Umeboshi, reading, and being with my friends..." Kakashi noted that she blushed a little while giving a quick glance to Naruto, "My dislikes include people who bully others, superficial idiots, and spicy foods...my dreams...um...well, I want to be able to help others as best as I can by being a great kunoichi..." again she gave Naruto a quick glance, which he missed. Kakashi was only glad that she wasn't one of those raving fangirls that Sasuke and Naruto had to deal with on a daily basis when they left for the Academy and after lessons were done.

Kakashi nodded, "Very well, you're next blondie."

"I have a name you know.."

"Well, then let's pretend I don't know that."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at Kakashi, but eventually settled down, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, though I was taken in by the Uchiha clan when I was younger. My likes include my mom and brothers, my friends, ramen, and training! Let's see...dislikes...hm...I guess I don't like jerks...but then again who does? Oh, I dislike people who cruel for no reason too. Let's see, my dream is to be Hokage!"

Kakashi smiled behind his mask, _'If only you knew how right that sounds coming from you in particular, Naruto.'_

"Very well, you're up next Sasuke."

Sasuke cracked open his eyes. He wasn't sleeping, he had indeed caught everything that had been said, but he liked to concentrate more on things by closing his eyes to listen better, "I'm Sasuke Uchiha. I like a few things, namely my family and training, and my few friends. My dislikes include people who are ignorant, and those who are abuse their power. My dream is to help bring honor back to the Uchiha name with my brother, and become one of the greatest Uchiha in history." he smirked, then added, "and make sure Naruto gets the position of Hokage so I can have him give me good missions in the future."

Naruto grinned, while yelling, "You won't be waiting long!" and Sasuke gave a small smile. Sakura rolled her eyes at the two, but a smile was clearly on her face. This team may just be the one he had been waiting for. Then again, if that was the case, he better read all that he can of Icha Icha before it was too late.

Kakashi was definitely pleased with what he had heard. Everyone of them seemed to have a somewhat similar goal in mind as to what they want to do; be the best that they can be. He smiled, and decided to drop the bomb on their good mood, "Well, now that that's taken care of, I'll tell you about the myself. I'm Hatake Kakashi, and my likes and hobbies are none of your business." the words 'Icha Icha were mumbled by a certain blonde, "I heard that. Let's see...dislikes, hm, I have a few, nothing important I guess. My dreams...never gave them much thought."

The three Genin merely groaned, that was expected from the Jounin; learn just his name and that was it. Truth was, they already knew him to a certain degree, "Right, now, let's talk about the test."

The expressions he received made him chuckle on the inside, "T-test?" Naruto stuttered.

"Yep. This one is a pass or fail, with chances of failing being over sixty-six percent. Screw it up, and you go back to the Academy for another year." Kakashi said, his voice still bored and indifferent, even though in reality he was very interested in how this would turn out.

"Kakashi-sensei...what about the test we took back in the Academy?" Sakura asked, and the two boys gave nods showing their thoughts being similar.

"Oh, _that _test was to see who even had the potential to be a Genin to begin with. We don't need to bother with those that don't show any signs of being ready yet." the silver haired Jounin replied with a shrug, and he handed the three papers with some notes, "I suggest you look this over; these papers are review on what you three should already know." Kakashi stood up, "Anyway, Naruto, Sasuke, I'll see you two later today. Sakura, take care." he was about to dissapear when he spoke once more, "Oh yeah...I recommend that you skip breakfast tomorrow...unless you don't mind throwing up later from the test."

As the three kids walked home, Naruto looked from Sakura to his brother, "You don't think he meant that...do you?"

Sasuke gave a shrug, "You can never be too sure with him...he's a sarcastic jerk one minute, a jolly Jounin another, then dead serious the next."

Sakura sighed, "Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow morning I guess."

"Later, Sakura." nodded Sasuke.

Naruto grinned, "Okay, Sakura-chan. I'll see you tomorrow! Make sure to eat a big dinner tonight since we can't have breakfast tomorrow."

Sakura rolled her eyes while smiling, "Right, right. I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto." she gave him a hug, and then waved goodbye to Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto watched her go with a small grin on his face, "Man...you've got it bad..."

"Shut it, Sasuke!"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

After dinner that night, Naruto sat quietly at the table, and he felt Itachi's eyes on him as well as Mikoto's. He nodded, but then gave them a sad grin, "Kakashi-sensei's stopping by too."

Mikoto nodded, giving him an understanding smile, "He'll be here when he gets here. What matters is that you do this the way most comfortable to you."

Naruto looked to see Sasuke looking up at him, "What are you talking about, Kaa-san?"

Mikoto looked at Naruto, then back to Sasuke, "Sasuke, Naruto has something very important to tell you...something that he found out recently..."

Sasuke nodded, and saw Itachi get up, "I think it would be best if we discussed this matter in the living room." There were murmurs of agreement, and the four headed into the said room.

Naruto shifted in place uncomfortably, and noticed Sasuke giving him a worried glance, "Naruto...what's the matter?"

Naruto looked at his brother...one of his best friends...and he felt his chest tighten, "Um...Sasuke...you know about the Kyuubi, right?" He could see the gears already turning in the younger Uchiha's head, and saw him nod, "Well...the Fourth Hokage...didn't die defeating the Kyuubi, it was too strong...he had to take care of it a different way."

Sasuke looked at his older brother and mother, and they both nodded, so he continued to listen to Naruto, "Well, on that night, the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi away...inside a newborn kid so the chakra coils could adjust to the demon fox's chakra. You do know what night that was...right?"

Sasuke's eyes widened, "October tenth..." he shook his head, "...but...you were born that night...and...that was twelve...years..." he got up, "No...you're lying!!"

"Sasuke, please, don't get upset at Naruto, listen to him!" Mikoto said worriedly. Naruto was already looking down in shame.

"He can't be the Kyuubi! He's not a demon!!" Sasuke looked at his brother, and Itachi nodded, "No!! I don't believe it!!" he ran up stairs, and the sound of his door slamming was heard. Naruto's knuckles were white as he gripped his pants tightly while kneeling on the floor.

"He hates me..." Naruto said, and he tried to hold back tears, "I always wondered...why do they hate me? I guess this reason is good enough for the way I was treated..."

Mikoto drew her adopted son in close, "Naruto, he doesn't hate you. He's just upset...this is a lot for him to take in too..."

Itachi got up, and Mikoto looked at her eldest son in the eyes, "I'm going to go talk with Sasuke."

"Itachi..."

"Don't worry, Kaa-san. I know how to deal with Sasuke when he's like this." Itachi replied quietly, and he kneeled down to put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Naruto...you're _not_ the Kyuubi...don't think that, even for a second."

Naruto nodded as Itachi got up and went up the stairs. Mikoto heard a knock at the door, and slowly got up to answer it. She opened the door to find a silver haired Jounin, "Yo."

She sighed, and Kakashi got the message, "Bad timing?" She merely nodded, "Mind if I talk with Naruto?" She gave another nod.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sasuke sat in his room, staring bitterly outside from his window. He didn't even move as he heard his door open, "Sasuke...that was uncalled for..."

Sasuke said nothing.

Itachi walked over to his brother, and sat next to him, "Naruto's upset about what you did...and I really think you should apologize. It would be wise..."

"Is that reason why he is hated by some of the villagers?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow, "Yes...you noticed how people look at him too?"

Sasuke nodded, sighing, "Yeah, it's hard not to. Naruto just seems to brush it off though..."

Itachi looked at Sasuke, and frowned a bit, "Naruto is _not _the Kyuubi. He merely holds it inside of him. In a way, he's constantly protecting us."

Sasuke nodded, "I just...I hate how idiotic some people are...I mean...yeah, he holds the Kyuubi in him...but he's not the demon fox..."

Itachi nodded, "Perhaps you should go down and talk to him. Naruto just learned of this awhile ago, so he's not entirely comfortable with this knowledge yet."

Sasuke nodded, and followed his brother downstairs to see Naruto...

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kakashi was sitting on the patio outside of the Uchiha household that looked out to the garden, "Naruto...you want to talk?"

Naruto was sitting with his back to the wall, and he nodded, "Kakashi...is it right to not be mad at the villagers for hating me?"

Kakashi sighed; Naruto asked a question that was deep, "Naruto...that alone shows that you're mature beyond your years." Kakashi gave him a smile, "Listen...not everyone hates you..."

"Yeah...well that's because most of the friends I have don't know of the Kyuubi. What if Sak-" he stopped himself, but Kakashi already knew what he had planned on saying.

"Naruto...though I don't know her as well as you or Sasuke...she seems like a very bright and caring girl. If she's a real friend...I don't think that she would hate you for it."

Naruto nodded, "I guess you're right."

Kakashi ruffled his hair, "You better get some sleep, otherwise you'll be falling asleep at the test tomorrow..."

"Heh...I could sleep in and have a long hot shower, and I'd still be waiting an hour for you." Naruto retorted. Kakashi simply shrugged.

"My point is, Naruto, no matter what anyone says, you are _not_ a demon, and you have people who care about you. Even Itachi does...though he doesn't say it."

Naruto nodded, and then a voice interrupted the two, "Naruto..."

Naruto turned to see Sasuke standing at the door, looking down at the ground, "I want to talk...about what happened earlier...I'm sorry..."

Naruto noticed Sasuke was giving his rare honest-to-good guilty frown, "It's okay, Sasuke. I forgive you."

Sasuke sighed, "I still want to talk about it."

Kakashi got up, "Well, maybe your mother has some food left over. I really didn't eat anything yet for dinner today..." he got up, silently cuing Sasuke to take a seat and talk to Naruto.

The two were quiet for awhile, then Naruto spoke, "So...are you more afraid, or just surprised by this?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Surprised, I guess. I mean, yeah, the Kyuubi is in you...but I don't think that I should have reason to be _scared_ of you. Besides, I've known you since we started at the academy, and you never did anything horrible like the Kyuubi was said to be able to do in the stories..."

Naruto nodded, and lifted his shirt, "The Old Man told me that this seal on my stomach is what holds the Kyuubi in place. See?" Naruto channeled chakra into his stomach, and a black swirl with markings appeared, "It was done by the Yondaime Hokage...and it alone holds the Demon Fox in me. If it ever got out...well, we'd be in trouble."

Sasuke nodded, "So...are you going to tell anyone else?"

Naruto shook his head, "Not for now...I'm still not sure if I want to...but I at least think my family deserves to know." Naruto grinned, "Even if you are a jerk sometimes, you're still my brother, and that's what matters most."

Sasuke snorted, "Yeah, well, I'd rather be a jerk than an idiot." the smirk on his face made Naruto laugh; there was the Sasuke Naruto knew.

The two sat in quiet for awhile, looking at the night sky. Time seemed to crawl as the stars began to appear. That's when Naruto asked Sasuke, "Hey...Sasuke, after we pass the test, we'll be on missions...and leaving the village too."

Sasuke nodded, and continued to remain quiet. He suddenly heard the sound of footsteps, and the two turned to see Kakashi behind them, "Well, I'm off. I'd recommend getting some sleep; tomorrow's you two and Sakura take the test."

"Yeah, well you just wait. We'll pass with flying colors tomorrow!" Naruto shot back, grinning while Sasuke gave a small smirk to Kakashi. The Jounin said nothing, but smiled behind his face mask.

"Well, save the big talk for tomorrow, Naruto." he gave a wave to the two boys, "I'll see you later." with that, he vanished in a puff of smoke.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto sat awake in his room that night, looking out the window of his room. He saw the Hokage Monument from here, and a small smile crept on his face as he looked at the Fourth Hokage's stone carved face, "I guess I have some sort of connection to you after all." He smiled as he closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The following morning Sasuke sat in the kitchen as Naruto walked down the stairs from his room. He noticed Sasuke eating an apple and drinking some juice, and he raised an eyebrow, "Sasuke...Kakashi said we shouldn't eat breakfast."

"Heh...well, I'm still eating. I can't function right if I don't eat _something_ for breakfast." he bit into the apple and picked one out of a basket on the table. He tossed it to Naruto, "Eat something. I know how you get if you don't eat."

Naruto took the apple and begrudgingly bit into it. He chewed, and sighed, "I better bring something for Sakura-chan too. She and Ino are always trying to diet, which I still don't get. She probably hardly ate anything last night if I know her...I'm going to have to talk with her about that later..."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Idiot, you seriously have a problem..."

Naruto took a ferocious bite out of his apple while staring at Sasuke, "If you weren't my brother...I'd-"

"We better get going, otherwise Sakura's going to ream us out for being late." Sasuke said, basically ignoring Naruto's interrupted threat. Naruto grumbled, picked out a few plums and put them in a bag while stomping outside to join Sasuke over to training ground seven.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura sat quietly on a post while waiting for her team to arrive. That's when she saw a flash of blonde hair followed by Sasuke coming her way. She smiled and jumped off her seat while waving to Naruto and Sasuke, "Hey, you're here!"

Naruto grinned wide, and held a bag in front of him. Sakura looked at him, and he spoke, "It's your breakfast. I got you two plums, I know how much you like them."

Sakura was about to speak, but Sasuke interrupted, "It's not much, but we need something in our stomachs; it common sense."

Sakura sighed, "You didn't need to get me anything, you guys." she took a plum and happily bit into it, letting the juicy fruit leak into her mouth. After chewing it down and swallowing, she let out a satisfied, "Ahhh."

Naruto smiled, "Heh, I knew you'd like them."

"Thanks, Naruto." she gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and he began stuttering a 'your welcome' as she bit into her plum again.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Where is he?! It's almost ten o' clock!!" Sakura growled out as she sat under a tree, trying to avoid the sun, "It's been two hours since he was supposed to arrive!"

Naruto and Sasuke would have told her that this was expected, but the inclined not to. As wonderful of a girl that she was, Sakura tended to get a little edgy when she was kept waiting too long for someone.

The sound of a puff of smoke got the three kids' attention, "Yo."

Sakura jumped up and looked at Kakashi, "Kakashi-sensei, you're late!"

"Ah...sorry, I was walking down the street when a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way to reverse the bad luck..."

Naruto grinned as Sasuke placed a few ryo notes in Naruto hands, "You win...I thought he was going to make an excuse about helping someone."

Naruto chuckled, "Nah, I knew he would use an odd one today."

Sakura gave the two boys an annoyed look, "You _knew_ he was going to be late?"

Naruto raised his hands nervously in defense, "Heheh, easy, Sakura-chan. Kakashi-sensei is usually late for anything. Sasuke and I never know how long though. Sometimes it fifteen minutes, other times it's five hours..."

Kakashi laughed nervously, then straightened himself out, "Right...now then, I suppose we should get this test started," he dug into his pockets and produced to small bells, "The purpose of this test is to see if you can beat me and steal one of these bells from me, however, I'll be fighting as well. Think of it as a sort of survival test. You have until noon to get them from me. Whoever doesn't get a bell will fail this test, and be sent back to the academy for another year."

Sakura spoke, "But...Kakashi-sensei...there's three of us...and only two bells."

Kakashi smiled, "Ah, very observant, Sakura." he then gave them a dead serious look, "Now, as she pointed out, there _are_ only two bells, but three of you. That means that one of you will be failing this before the day is over. Of course...you could all fail if that were the case as well." he shrugged, "In the end, the maximum number of people passing this exam is two, no more than that."

"You can't be serious!" Naruto yelled, but Kakashi nodded.

"I am..." he set an alarm clock on a stump, "Now then, this clock is set to go off at noon, and I have two lunches here as well for after the test. Whoever fails will be left unable to eat as well."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all suddenly realized how smart they had been to eat something ealier. That was why he said not to eat anything for breakfast; to fool them.

The three waited for the clock to hit ten, and then Kakashi looked to the three, "Go!"

The three jumped off in different directions as Kakashi let a smile spread on his masked face, "Hmmm...they all are meeting up it seems...perhaps I was wrong about them."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto were all sitting in a tree about two hunded yards away from the clearing where Kakashi was. They had an idea in mind, but there was one problem...who would be failing in the end?

"I'll let you two take the bells," Naruto said with a shrug, "I technically wasn't qualified to be a Genin to begin with."

Sakura frowned, "Naruto, that's not true. You just don't have the same amount of chakra control as some of the others do to produce a _Bunshin_, but that doesn't mean you should be held back another year..." she looked down, "I'll do it..."

"No. I volunteered to take the fall, and I can. You two are my friends, and I have a technique that can hold him down long enough for you two steal the bells..."

Sasuke looked at his brother, and sighed, "Naruto..."

"Relax, Sasuke, I'm not upset with it." he gave them both a grin, and Sasuke noticed it was forced. Sakura did too, but she said nothing. There was no way of convincing Naruto otherwise.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all discussed their ideas, and after about twenty minutes into the test, they came up with an idea. It should work...that's what they thought at least.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kakashi walked through the forest, reading his book while chuckling a bit every now and then. He suddenly looked ahead to see a grinning Naruto as he stood in the path ahead of the Jounin.

"Allright, Kakashi-sensei, let's do this, fair and square! You and me, one on one!" Naruto shouted, pointing to the Jounin while clenching his free hand.

Kakashi groaned, "Naruto...didn't they teach you anything about stealth in the Academy?"

Naruto laughed, "I don't need stealth to beat you! You're just a lazy shinobi who is chronically late!"

Kakashi took a moment and noticed that Naruto wasn't alone. He sensed Sakura and Sasuke nearby, hiding in the foilage, _'Heh, seems they caught on...'_

"Hey, are you paying attention to me?! That's it, now I'm going to bury you into the ground! _**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_!" Naruto made six shadow clones of himself, and one of them spoke, "Here we go!"

Kakashi smiled, "Well, so I see you learned a technique from the Scroll of Sealing after all," he shrugged, "Very well, if you're so confident that you can win, why don't you stop talking and actually do some fighting?"

Naruto growled, "That's it, now I'm going to throttle you!" Naruto along with his clones, ran at Kakashi, yelling like a berserker.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura and Sasuke waited a distance from where the others were fighting, waiting for the chance to jump in.

"Do you think Naruto can pull this off?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know, Kakashi isn't a Jounin for nothing...Naruto looks like he has the advantage at the moment though." the Uchiha replied.

"Oh really, does he now?" The two whirled around, only to be face to face with Kakashi, "Yo."

**end of Chapter Three- Finally, I updated! Heh, this one took me some time to get around to finishing. Well, the secret's out to a few more people now...well, namely Naruto and Sasuke. Expect this to change things a bit in the future. As for Sakura...she may find out later, or she may not. Naruto has a family to fall back on, so this may make things easier for him to handle. I mean, yeah, Sasuke and Itachi aren't the greatest at comforting, but Mikoto's there. Anyway, hope you enjoyed chapter three! Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!**

_**Shiki Fuujin**__**-- Corpse Spirit Sealing Method- (original)-**_ A Fuuinjustu (sealing technique) developed by Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, who used a variation of this technique to seal the Kyuubi inside Naruto. The user of this Fuuinjutsu makes the proper hand seals, and calls forth the Shinigami (Death God), and in exchange for the user's soul, the Shinigami will remove the opponent's soul from their body. If the Shinigami is unable to remove the entire soul, then it can use a knife and remove a portion of the soul, and thus render the corresponding part of their body dead and useless, such as arms or legs. Then, the opponent's soul or portion of it will be sealed into the chest of the caster of the justu, and then both the soul of the caster and soul or portion of the soul of the opponent will be consumed by the Shinigami, making them unable to pass into the afterlife. The souls remain within the stomach of the Shinigami, where they will be locked in hated combat for all time. While this technique is a Fuuinjutsu, it's also considered a Kinjutsu (forbidden technique) because it kills the user.

_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu-- Shadow Clone Technique- (original)- **_Unlike the _**Bunshin no Jutsu**_,_** Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **_is a technique that creates a copy of the user that has both form and substance by distributing chakra into the clone. The Shadow Clone can also use any jutsu and other tactics the original user has on knowledge. Once the clone is dispersed by an attack, damage, or by the user themselves, all information gained from the clone is passed onto the original ninja, as well as any other clones.

_**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu-- Multiple Shadow Clone Technique- (original)- **_An advanced version of the _**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_ where the user creates not just a few Shadow Clones but several hundred (even thousands) of clones. Depending on the skill level of the user, the amount of chakra needed to pull off the technique will vary. Those with less control will need to use more chakra compared to those with better control. This Jounin level technique was banned by the First Hokage, but many still learn the technique, such as Naruto and Kakashi.


	4. Ripples and Waves: Part One

**Disclaimer: Naruto isn't owned by me, but just to make sure that point is made, I brought a guest here for us!**

**Neji: Denim...why? **

**Denim88: Because it's funny, and makes for an interesting disclaimer!**

**Neji: Very well, if it'll keep you from talking, I shall do it. Ahem, Denim88 doesn't own Naruto or any of it's characters. Naruto and all it's characters are property of Masashi Kishimoto, not Denim88.**

**Denim88: Thanks for that Neji.**

**Neji: Don't mention it...ever...**

**Denim88: Right...well, on with the fic...Neji, please don't glare at me with your Byakugan, it's scary...**

**Glowing Embers in the Wind**

**Chapter Four: Ripples and Waves- Part One**

Another pop went off as Kakashi dispelled his seventy-fourth Shadow Clone. Naruto had found himself in a bit of a jam now. The blond quickly decided to do what he did best; go all out and hope for the best.

"Naruto, you know there's this wonderful expression...I believe it's 'quality over quantity'. You ever hear of it?"

"Oh, shut up! I'll pummel you to the ground, then burn that book in front of you! Then we'll see who's the real shinobi here!" retorted a flustered blond, summoning another sixteen clones.

Kakashi stared at Naruto for a second, "...you've been hanging around Itachi too much."

Naruto folded his arms while a few of the clones around him grumbled something about perverts not being fit for shinobi, then charged in for another run at the silver haired Jounin.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura chucked another handful of shuriken at Kakashi as Sasuke made a few seals, and blasted a ball of fire at the Jounin.

Kakashi blocked the oncoming shuriken before reappearing behind Sakura as the fireball exploded where he had been standing moments ago,"Shinobi lesson number one: Taijutsu!" Kakashi quickly grabbed Sakura by her wrist and flung her through the air, and heard her land in a bush, "You two will have to do better than that if you plan to defeat me."

"Tch, as if we stood a chance to begin with. We hardly had a shot at you working together...but still..." Sasuke flew through a few seals, "Naruto's not going to give up, so neither are we. _**Katon: **__**Goukakyuu no Jutsu**_!" Sasuke launched another massive fireball at the Jounin, and the Jounin rolled his eyes, "Shinobi lesson number two: Genjutsu!"

The fireball hit Kakashi dead on, burning the Jounin to ash as it blasted off into a nearby tree before exploding to millions of embers. Sasuke's eyes widened...did he really hit him?

"Did...did I actually...kill him?" Sasuke was shaken for a moment before a voice spoke up.

"Nah, I was just messing with you." Kakashi spoke up, and Sasuke whirled around only to find a kunai to his throat, "Yo."

Sasuke didn't move, and noticed Sakura getting up behind Kakashi, kunai in hand. Suddenly, Kakashi's eyes widened, and he dissapeared with a puff of smoke, "A clone?"

Before Sasuke or Sakura could say anything, a voice rang out in the distance, "Free ramen!!"

Both turned towards where Naruto and Kakashi were fighting, "That's the signal! Sasuke, let's hurry!" Sakura spoke, and the two dashed off to the battle.

The two arrived a few moments later to see about twenty Naruto clones piled on the body of Kakashi. The man looked more annoyed than hurt. He noticed Sasuke and Sakura coming, and he immediately understood what was happening.

"Sasuke, Sakura, take his bells before he gets free!" Naruto spoke, and pointed at the Jounin's waistline, "I was going to take out his book as well, but then he bit a clone and I decided against it."

"He bit you?" Sakura repeated, a bit perplexed by how someone could bite with a mask on...then again, the man wasn't a Jounin for nothing.

Sasuke looked to his brother, "Naruto...you and Sakura take the bells."

Naruto looked surprised, but immediately replaced it with anger, "Hey, what the heck?! We agreed _I_ was going to take the fall here!"

Sakura spoke, "No, no, you two can take the bells. I don't belong to a clan, so it wouldn't be that big of a deal if I wait another year..."

Naruto shook his head, "Sakura, no! Clan has nothing to do with this! I said I would hold him down while you two each took a bell! You two can't decide to change plans _now_!"

Sasuke sighed, "Naruto, you _know_ how bad the Academy was for you...I don't want you going through another year of it. If I fail, I fail. It just means I'll be more prepared for next year. Itachi and Kaa-san will understand."

Naruto looked at the two and spoke, "Look, I don't mind waiting another year for my time to pass my Genin test. I can deal with another year learning from Iruka-sensei. Besides, maybe I'll learn a bit more from him!"

Naruto was cut short from his speech when he suddenly felt something grab his ankles, "What the-?" he turned to see a log replacing the spot where Kakashi had been, "Uh oh..."

"_**Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu**_!" Naruto cried out as he was literally yanked into the ground, up to where his neck was. Kakashi jumped out of the ground and smiled at Naruto, "...and that was Shinobi lesson number three: Ninjutsu."

Sasuke and Sakura jumped back a few feet, and Sasuke spoke, "Crud, we spent too much time arguing and didn't notice him get free!"

Naruto on the other hand, was plain peeved off, "Hey, someone want to help me here?!"

"We're a little busy here, idiot!" Sasuke yelled as he chucked a few kunai at Kakashi.

"We'll be there in a minute, Naruto!" Sakura yelled as she blocked a three shuriken with a kunai. Things weren't looking good for the three.

Kakashi jumped to the side, avoiding Sasuke's kunai. He dissapeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared behind Sakura and Sasuke, "Hmm...I think that's good enough..."

Sasuke and Sakura turned around and gave the silver haired man a confused look, "What?" they both said.

Kakashi smiled behind his mask, "Go get Naruto out of the ground there and meet me at the three posts over there." With that, Kakashi walked off to said destination while the three Genin all had befuddled expressions on their faces.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The three sat by a post as Kakashi stood before them, his face displaying a bored expression...at least that's what they thought it was anyway, "Okay, I think I've made up my mind with you three."

Sasuke spoke up, a bit annoyed, "We still have a good hour before time runs out."

Kakashi nodded, and spoke in a serious tone,"This is true, but I believe that your performance today told me enough as far as where you three stand in regards to becoming true Genin."

"So...what decision did you reach then, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, a bit nervous as she looked at the masked Jounin, who gave her a blank stare.

"Well, first I'll say this..." he turned to Naruto, "You tried to take me on by yourself, knowing that I'd have no trouble with you. Taking the burden of a mission on by yourself is likely to cause problems for a team in the field. Sakura, you're Taijutsu needs work, and you seem to hesitate at times when you attack. Sasuke, you were launching your jutsu at me recklessly. Relying solely on power will not be enough in battle. I'm sure Itachi has harped on both you and Naruto about that, as well as your mother." Kakashi looked up at the midday sky, and paused before continuing, "However..." he turned back to the three, "All three of you were ready to take the fall for each other...and you worked out an actual plan to try and beat me. It may have failed, but that is expected. That was the whole point of this exercise...to see how well you three would work as a team."

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all went silent for a moment, waiting for Kakashi to speak. After a few seconds passed, Naruto spoke, "Wait...so...?"

Kakashi grinned behind his mask, "All three of you pass. Congratulations, Team Seven."

The silence was once again interrupted by the hooting and cheering of Naruto, "Aw _yeah_!! I'm a ninja!! Hahahaha!! Yes!!"

Sasuke smiled a bit as he got up while Sakura giggled at Naruto's celebrating, "Easy, Naruto. You're going to end up hurting yourself." She laughed a bit more as Naruto stopped and grinned embarrassingly.

While Kakashi was indeed happy with this...a small part of him cried on the inside. He took a long look at his beloved Icha Icha before sighing. Itachi would no doubt have a field day when he heard about this. Kakashi was going to have to pick up on a hobby for a while...he just knew it.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

That night, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura decided to celebrate their victory by having dinner together. Mikoto was on a mission, and Itachi would be out on patrol until the early hours of morning. So, it was decided that Sakura's house would be the appropriate place to celebrate.

Naruto sat at the table with his brother and their kunoichi teammate as Ms. Haruno prepared dinner. It was quite funny really, the fact that Youkou Haruno and her daughter Sakura shared the same color hair. Youkou's hair was only slightly lighter in color compared to her daughter, and her eyes were a darker green. Sakura was otherwise a younger copy of her mother.

"So, all three of you are on the same squad. That's so cute! I'll have to take a picture later!" Youkou Haruno said as she brought large pot of vegetable soup to the table. It was a well known fact that Sakura's only parent was a vegetarian. Sakura herself was not, but for the sake of her mother ate whatever she was given...although Sakura did sometimes add meat to her meals.

Youkou, unlike her daughter, never was a ninja. Her chakra was never at a sufficient enough level for her to perform the basics, and there was also the fact that Youkou was more interested in gardening and running her market stand than Ninjutsu. Still, she was proud of her daughter, and it made her happy to say that she had a kunoichi for a daughter.

As everyone ate, Sasuke and Naruto recounted all the recent happenings at the Uchiha household for Youkou; Itachi's latest week long mission, Mikoto doing patrol with a group, and so on. It was because Naruto and Sakura had become good friends that Mikoto and Youkou had in turn become good friends as well. Ms. Haruno was well aware of Naruto's...condition, but she didn't think any less of the boy for it. As a result, she had become a sort of aunt to Naruto the Uchiha siblings. Even Itachi saw her in a similar way, as he often visited her vegetable stand for her tomatoes...which Sasuke loved. Itachi found that keeping a steady supply of them at home made Sasuke less likely to be found in a bad mood.

After dinner, Sasuke went home early, saying that he had to practice his fire techniques while it was still bright enough outside. That left Naruto alone with Sakura as Youkou went to wash dishes and prepare her produce for tomorrow.

"So, Naruto, do you think we'll get any good missions tomorrow?" Sakura asked as the two sat outside of the Haruno residence on the steps.

Naruto laughed, "Uh...from what I hear, D-rank missions are nothing more than public services and manual labor for less pay. Mom told me that when she was a Genin almost a quarter of her missions involved helping fix up old buildings and removing weeds from gardens."

Sakura frowned, "You're kidding me..." Naruto wasn't laughing though, so she sighed in disappointment.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan. Itachi said that once you can do C-rank missions that you get to do some actual ninja work. It may be a few months, but if we do really well with the D-ranks, the Old Man will _have_ to assign us harder stuff." Naruto said with a grin.

Sakura smiled back at the blond haired boy, "You're probably right." she looked up at the darkening sky, and admired the purples and pinks as they appeared on the horizon, "I'm glad we're on the same squad, Naruto."

"Me too, Sakura-chan." Naruto replied. He felt her wrap her arms around his left arm, and he couldn't help but feel like his stomach was filled with flapping butterflies.

"Hey, Naruto?"

Naruto felt his throat tighten, but forced himself to speak, "Y-yeah?"

"...you really did good today in the survival test...you almost had Kakashi-sensei pinned so we could take the bells..." Sakura said quietly as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Heheh, it wasn't anything special. Sasuke probably would have had an easier time against Captain Tardy compared to me..." Naruto spoke, his face turning a tint of red. For him, receiving a compliment from Sakura was the best thing that could be happening to him at the moment, in his opinion.

Sakura sighed, "Naruto, stop selling yourself short. You've got more raw talent than most of the students in our grade did, and you still don't let it go to your head." she hugged him briefly before getting up, "I think that's worth admiring. Also, you were willing to fail in order for Sasuke and my sake..." she tilted her head slightly to the side as she smiled a bit, "That just shows how big of a heart you have." She planted a light kiss on his right cheek before walking to the front door of her home, "I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto."

As Sakura shut the door, the blond was staring at the pink haired girl as she slowly closed the door, glancing behind her before fully shutting it.

Naruto touched his cheek, and grinned, "Sakura-chan...kissed me..."

He jumped a bit and yelled in celebration before running home. He ran up the street to his home in the Uchiha district, feeling a bit lighter in his step.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura watched from her window with a smile as Naruto went running down the street, happy as kid in a candy store. She sighed a bit, and promised herself to do that more often. She wouldn't deny it anymore...was infatuated with the boy.

"I can still remember the day you came home and said that you meet the boy that you plan to marry someday." spoke Youkou, watching her daughter from the kitchen. Sakura blushed ten shades of red, and turned to her mother to look at her with her best attempt at appearing annoyed.

"Mom, please. I was only like...eight at the time!"

Youkou laughed a bit, and smiled warmly, "Sakura, honey, I'm not trying to upset you. You and Naruto are by far the cutest together.

Sakura blushed, "I like him...I really do...is that right? I mean...we've been friends since-"

Youkou put a hand up, cutting Sakura off, "Naruto and you _are still _friends...and for now, that's probably best. Just wait for a few more years and you'll start understanding why I think you two are adorable together. Well, you can maybe try to get a bit closer to him, but you're still only kids. Enjoy your childhood before worrying about that stuff."

Sakura nodded. She could give it a try; besides, if she was at a loss of what to do, Ino could always help her...maybe even Sasuke?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Shisui Uchiha sat in a cave with a pale, blue-skinned shinobi carrying a large sword and wearing a Kirigakure hitai-ite, a single gash running through the Hidden Mist's symbol, "So...Konoha, huh?"

"Yeah, apparently one of the Jinchuuriki is there...a kid from what we've been told...we've got a few months before we have to go and retrieve him..." Kisame paused before grinning, "I hear you have family back in Hidden Leaf?"

Shisui shrugged a bit, "Hardly. Itachi was a good friend of mine, and I hardly knew his mother and brother. That damn Jinchuuriki boy was actually the one that saved them from dying by my sword..." Shisui smirked, "Next time...Itachi won't know what to expect though..."

Kisame laughed a bit too, "Well, I look forward to it as well. I've heard that Konoha's full of powerful shinobi..." Kisame's grin widened a bit as he gripped Samehade ever so slightly. Soon enough the time would come for Akatsuki to begin putting its plans into action.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A couple weeks had passed since Team Seven began. They turned out to be quite a well-developed team. However, like all teams, they had their weaknesses and flaws...and odd tendencies to complain to their village leaders...

"Hey, Old Man!! How many times do we have to freakin' hunt down that cat?! _How many_ more times?!" Naruto said as he pointed to said cat which was currently being crushed by Madame Shijimi. Sakura, in the meantime, was trying to keep Naruto still long enough to put some disinfectant on the numerous scratches he got from the cat.

Sarutobi sighed. Naruto had been relatively patient with the D-ranks. He wouldn't deny it; he even felt bad about giving Team Seven the mission to catch Tora a total of six times within only two weeks.

"Naruto!" yelled Iruka, "You're team is a Genin squad, and as such, you are to take on D-rank missions! As you progress, you'll start taking C-rank, then B, A and so forth!"

"Yeah, but the D-rank missions are nothing more than cheap labor..." Naruto deadpanned, earning a growl from Iruka, and a sigh from Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sarutobi.

"Very well, Naruto, if you think your team is ready for a C-rank mission, then I have one here for you. Bring in the client." spoke Sarutobi, and Team Seven turned to the door behind them as it opened.

"Ugh, what smells like sake?" Sakura said as she pinched her nose.

"Huh? _These_ are the ninja assigned to protect me?" spoke an older man with a straw hat, glasses, and a slight slur to his speech, "Hokage-sama, with all due respect..."

"Relax, Tazuna-san, these three are more than capable of the mission you've asked for." spoke Sarutobi as he took a drag from his pipe.

Kakashi decided to speak up, "I'll be going along as well, so it's not like you'll be alone with a group of young Genin for a mission. You're in good hands."

Tazuna gave a grunt and nodded, "Be ready in two hours at the southern gate. You'll be escorting me to Wave Country to insure my safe travel from bandits and such, and insuring my protection as I complete the construction of a bridge...if you're up to it. I'm not sure about the shrimp there, though."

"Wait, who are you-?" Naruto looked at Sasuke, then Sakura, and blinked, "Why I..."

"Easy, big guy," Kakashi said as he held Naruto by the collar while the blond was shouting obscenities and promising pain for the bridge builder if he was set free. Luckily, Kakashi was the stronger of the two at the moment, so Naruto was forced to bear with yelling and cursing.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto and Sasuke were packing their travel packs for a good week's trip to Wave, and were done within fifteen minutes. After Sasuke convinced Naruto that packing ten cups of instant ramen wasn't a good idea, they walked to the Uchiha compound's training ground to find Itachi.

Itachi was sitting by the small stream in the training ground of the Uchiha home, his eyes closed as he meditated. Before Naruto or Sasuke had even stepped foot outside, Itachi sensed them heading towards him...especially Naruto.

"Nii-san, we've got our first C-rank today. We're going to Wave Country apparently. We're protecting some guy while escorting him back and keeping him protected while he finishes building this bridge connecting Wave to the mainland." Sasuke called out as the two younger boys approached Itachi.

Itachi nodded, "Well, be sure to do your best, and don't forget everything that you've learned in becoming a shinobi." Naruto and Sasuke both nodded, and Itachi rose up, "I believe Kaa-san should be back in time to say goodbye to you two.

"What about saying goodbye did I hear about?" came the voice of Mikoto. All three of the boys turned to see the Uchiha matriarch in a standard Jounin flak jacket and black pants with a black short sleeved shirt, "Where are you two off to?"

Naruto spoke, "We're going to Wave for about a week! We're going to help an old geezer get back to Wave Country, and protect him while he finishes a bridge."

Mikoto smiled at her two younger boys, "Well, I'm glad I got back early then." She crouched down by the two, and planted a kiss on either of their foreheads, earning an embarrassed groan from both, "Take care, and make sure to get plenty of rest and food while on the road."

"Mother, we're shinobi, we know what to do." Sasuke said in an exasperated tone. Seriously, did mothers always have to be so worried about everything their children did?

Both boys gave their word to stay safe...well, as safe as possible for a shinobi, and left for the rendezvous with the rest of the team as Mikoto and Itachi watched them go.

"Hm...I do believe Kakashi will be needing to find a new activity while traveling. The month is not over yet." Itachi said with a ghost of a smile while Mikoto raised an eyebrow, saying nothing as she had heard plenty from the other Jounin about Kakashi's new predicament.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Was this your card?"

Sakura looked over at Kakashi's hand, which held a eight of clubs. She shook her head as Kakashi sighed as he reshuffled his deck. It was hard to find stuff to do that didn't involve reading adult literature, the silver haired Jounin thought.

"So, Kakashi-sensei, when do we get to fight some bandits?"

"Naruto, that's the kind of thing ninja on an escort mission _want_ to avoid." Sasuke replied, looking forward as the road became wider. They were only minutes from Konoha, but the three Genin were already in awe. This was their first time outside the gates, after all.

As the group continued, Kakashi made note of a small puddle on the side of the road...a road that hadn't been rained on for two weeks.

As the group moved past the puddle, two figures slowly rose out of the standing water. Kakashi made note that they seemed to taking there sweet time in making a move...which meant they were definitely trained ninja.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a figure flew down upon the group. Using a bladed chain-like weapon connecting the two shinobi by their wrists, they quickly ran around Kakashi. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna barely had time to react as the blade wrapped around Kakashi and ripped him into chunks.

"Kakashi-sensei!!" Sakura screamed, seeing her Jounin instructor being torn apart before her very eyes.

The two enemy ninja turned to the four remaining people and smirked, "One down..." spoke the taller of the two attackers.

Sasuke, while forcing back the shock from seeing Kakashi get ripped to shred before his very eyes, threw a shuriken towards the chain connecting the two shinobi by the wrists. He took another look, and saw that they were wearing claw-like weapons on their hands that were joined by the chain.

The shuriken caught onto the chain, embedded itself to a tree, and held the two in place...

...that is until they yanked on their arms and snapped the chain. One of them ran towards Naruto, and the other ran towards Tazuna and Sakura.

Naruto was running on auto-pilot now, and prepared for an attack. He just saw Kakashi die moments ago. He suppressed the panic inside him, knowing that losing focus right now was a dangerous thing to do. He dropped into a low stance and jumped back to avoid a swipe with the claw. Then he blocked a kick with his arms. Unfortunately, that left an opening for the enemy, and he delivered a slash with his clawed weapon. Naruto hissed in pain as the metal gave him a gash in his arm. He pulled back, and pulled out a kunai to attack with.

Sakura pulled out a kunai as the other shinobi rushed at her, drawing back his claw to attack, "Tazuna-san, please stand back!" She grit her teeth as she pressed down her fear. Kakashi was dead, and it was just the three of them against these two rogue ninja. She gripped her kunai tightly, preparing to defend the bridge builder.

"Gah!!"

Sakura blinked as she saw the figure of her silver haired sensei standing before her, a fist rammed into the enemy nin's gut. The ninja fell to the ground, passed out. The second ninja, seeing that his comrade had fallen, decided that the odds were no longer in favor, so fleeing was the best option...especially with Kakashi back in the scene.

That was what he planned on until he was dog piled by about fifteen of Naruto's Shadow Clones.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kakashi squatted down so he was eye level with the two Chunin-level missing nin, who turned out to be from Kirigakure. That explained the whole puddle in the road deal during a sunny day.

"Okay, I've been having a _really_ bad day so far, so I'd recommend you answer my questions, and answer them now." Kakashi spoke in a deadly tone. He was not happy in the least; first he can't read Icha Icha during the mission, then he finds out he's bad at card tricks, and_ then _to top it off, his team is ambushed. Apparently someone forgot to inform him that the mission was of B-rank...or someone was not telling him the whole story. He was pretty sure Sarutobi wasn't out to get the masked Jounin, so he was pretty sure Tazuna left out some 'need-to-know' facts about this whole ordeal. He stared into their eyes and spoke, "Why did you attack us?"

"We're not telling you a thing..." spoke one of the two Demon Brothers, as they were called.

Kakashi's hand twitched in need of a kunai, half of his mind screaming to kill something and kill it now. He restrained the urges and decided to instead backhand the ninja, "Wrong answer. Try again, or I'll start using fists."

Meanwhile, Sasuke and Tazuna watched Kakashi let out some anger on his captives while Sakura was tending to Naruto's wound on his arm., "Naruto, you dummy, what were you thinking going into close combat with a guy who was carrying a poisoned weapon?"

Naruto pouted as she wrapped gauze on the cleaned and detoxified wound, "I didn't _know_ they were poisoned, Sakura! Honest!"

Sakura sighed as she finished dressing the wound, and looked at him with a bit of concern and annoyance, mostly concern though, "Get careless like that again and I'm telling your mom about how you always tried to pawn off your fruits and vegetables to other kids at school during lunch."

Naruto gave her a shocked look, "You wouldn't."

"I will..."

Naruto gulped nervously, already seeing how his mother would react to that little fact, and nodded, "Okay, I'll be more careful, Sakura-chan."

Sakura nodded before giving him a light peck on the cheek, "Good!"

Kakashi eventually got up from his impromptu interrogation with the two ninja, and walked over to the group, "Well, it seems our two friends here are missing-nin from Kirigakure. From what I understand though, they've been hired to kill Tazuna here. We were never informed of other_ shinobi_ being among the list of possible threats here. We were sent with you to protect against bandits and thieves...not ninja."

Tazuna looked rather ashamed at this point, "I can explain myself..."

Kakashi gave him a flat look, "I'm sure you can, but the point remains that this mission is now void. We're no dealing with a B-rank mission or higher if my suspicions are correct. I'm calling this mission off."

Naruto spoke up at that, "What? Hey, come on! We just left Konoha! Why are you calling off the mission like that?!"

Kakashi sighed, "Perhaps you didn't hear me. Tazuna lied to us about the details of the mission, and shinobi enemies are now a possibility. If continued, we'd no longer be in contract with the mission we took on at the beginning. We'd be on our own, going into who knows what kind of danger."

"Kakashi-sensei, I think we should still help out Tazuna-san though." Sakura spoke, and Naruto nodded while Sasuke merely sent Kakashi a determined look. The silver haired man groaned; he _really _could use his favorite book right now.

"Very well, we continue with the mission. Let me send a message to Konoha about the two over there, and that this mission is no longer of C-rank. We're going to be half way to Wave by the time it reaches though." Kakashi replied, "Tazuna, I expect that explanation to be good too; you've put my students, who are also my team and family, in danger. Understood?"

Tazuna only nodded as he felt Kakashi's single visible eye bore into him, "R-right..."

So the four shinobi and one bridge builder continued onward to Wave Country. Tazuna had gone to explain the plight of the country's people as they neared the coast of Fire Country during the time on foot.

"Wave Country is a very poor island nation. We never had much money, but at least we were happy. You see, we rely heavily on shipping and trade with other countries in order to meet our need for food and clothing and other such things. However..." Tazuna's voice dropped a bit, "Several years ago, a man by the name of Gato set his sights on our country, and with his vast wealth and ownership over a shipping company, took over almost all of our country's commerce."

Kakashi stopped for a brief moment, and spoke quietly, "You mean _the_ Gato; the shipping tycoon who is one of the richest men in all of the elemental countries?"

Tazuna nodded, "The same. However, the shipping company is nothing more than a front for his illegal drug and contraband trades he does behind the scenes. The man has all but destroyed our country. Anyone who spoke out against him was punished, usually by death."

Kakashi nodded, "Yes, I've heard of that man. He's known for hiring rogue-nin and mercenaries to do his dirty work. There's a hefty price for his head in a few countries...but the man's nearly untouchable with all the protection he pays for."

Sasuke spoke up, "So...the reason you're being targeted is because he sees you as a threat to his hold on Wave."

Tazuna gave a somber smile to the boy, "That's right. If this bridge connecting Fire Country to Wave is finished, Gato will no longer be the sole source of trade for our country, and he'll eventually have to give up and leave. I alone am the only man who has the skills to stand in his way as of now...and he knows it."

Kakashi sighed, "Well, if he hasn't found out by now that you're not dead, he will when those two Mist-nin don't return. I'm sure we'll be dealing with deadlier ninja as we arrive to Wave." the Jounin groaned a bit as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "Nevertheless, we'll help protect you, Tazuna-san."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Gato stood at the door of a hut built in the misty forests of Wave Country. He was a man of rather short stature, but he more than made up for it with his wealth and power. On either side of him were bodyguards of hulking size. However, he wasn't concerned with his protection right now; he was concerned with a certain bridge builder that wasn't dead yet, "You're two partners haven't returned yet. They should have been back by now."

The man he spoke two sat in a chair within the hut. He wore dull gray pants and urban camouflage arm and leg warmers, and no shirt. His face was covered by bandages, and he wore his hitai-ite bearing the Hidden Mist insignia to one side. However, one of the most notable features was the giant head cleaving sword he had, which was currently pointed only a few mere centimeters from the wealthy man, "Don't worry. I'll take care of the old man myself this time."

Gato nodded, a bit intimidated by the deadly blade being pointed at him, "Just do what you have to to get rid of that Tazuna. It seems that they have a Jounin level shinobi with them, though, so don't screw up. Remember who's paying you."

Zabuza Momochi glared at the man for a few moments, then spoke, "You talk big, but you should remember the man who earned the name 'Devil of the Hidden Mist' around here. Otherwise you may find yourself decapitated someday."

Gato gritted his teeth in anger, but said nothing further and left. As the man and his bodyguards left, a figure stepped out from the shadows wearing a green battle kimono, baggy brown shorts, and a mask typical of hunter-nin in Kirigakure. While the person's hair was black and long, if one studied them closely enough, they would see that the person was indeed a male, "Are we going, Zabuza-san?"

Zabuza nodded, "Yes. Leave the fighting to me, you just hang in the shadows unless things get out of hand, Haku."

"Right."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Team Seven and Tazuna were nearing the shores of Wave Country by boat and paddle. The mist was heavy, and the temperature was rather cool.

"So, this bridge you're building will seriously connect Wave Country with Fire?"

Tazuna smiled to Sakura, "That's right. It'll be one of the largest structures ever created if it is completed."

As if on cue, the looming figure of a gigantic bridge appeared out of the Mist. The four Konoha-nin stared in awe at it's colossal size as they passed under it.

"Whoa!! It's huge!!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Hey, shut up! Do want us to get caught? Why do you think I cut the engine when we reached Wave?" spoke the boatman in a harsh whisper. Naruto immediately went silent and said not another word until they reached land.

"Thanks for the ride. I realize how much trouble you put yourself in by doing this." Tazuna gave the boatmen a nod before getting onto a dock with the other three. The boatman nodded back before pushing off to leave. He was already in enough danger by helping Tazuna; staying around would only further endanger himself.

As the five walked through the misty grounds of Tazuna's home island, the four shinobi couldn't shake the feeling that they someone was watching their every movement.

Kakashi stopped suddenly, and heard the faint sound of something flying through the air.

_Fwoosh, fwoosh!_

His visible eye widened, "Everyone, get down!!"

Sasuke pulled Tazuna down before another word was spoken. Kakashi did likewise as Sakura fell down to the wet grass. Naruto turned to see a giant blade heading towards his neck. He dodged the blade just in time for a few of his loose strands of hair to be shaved off. He fell to the ground, and slowly turned to see it embed itself into a tree.

Kakashi looked up, and walked slowly over to the tree, "Well, well, if it isn't Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist."

Naruto and the others looked up and saw a man with his face covered in bandages standing ontop of the sword stuck in the tree, "Heheh. Kakashi Hatake...you honor me by knowing who I am. I see that my reputation has lessened since I left Kirigakure."

"I take it you're here to take care of Tazuna?"

"That's correct. Why don't you save me some trouble and just give up ahead of time?"

Kakashi put a hand on his hita-ite, "Afraid that can't happen. You'll have to get through me if you plan on taking out Tazuna."

"Heh, don't say I didn't warn you then." With that, the missing-nin dissapeared along with his sword. Naruto and the others noticed the mist thickening, and their vision was soon halved.

"Naruto, get back with the others and protect Tazuna." Kakashi spoke as he pulled up his headband. Naruto gasped.

"Kakashi-sensei...y-you're going to use the Sharingan?" Naruto spoke in a slightly shaky voice. If he was using his Sharingan...then this Zabuza guy must be dangerous...

"Naruto...I said get back with the others and protect Tazuna." Kakashi repeated, his voice stern, leaving no room for argument. Naruto quickly ran to the others, and pulled out a kunai to guard the bridge builder with...although it was sort of a useless tactic considering he wasn't able to see more than five feet ahead of himself from any given direction.

"Sasuke, Kakashi's using his Sharingan..." Naruto said quietly.

"So I heard. This Zabuza guy or whatever must be around Kakashi's level if that's the case. I think I remember hearing about him once; Itachi said he was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist." replied the Uchiha.

"That's right, Sasuke." replied Kakashi, who's outline was faint amongst the hazy mist, "You three, remember that Tazuna is our client. Stay close, and everthing will be fine."

"Trying to comfort the children with lies, are we?" came the amused voice of their attacker. Kakashi was unfortunately unable to pinpoint him inside the _**Kirigakure no Jutsu**_. It was one of Zabuza's favorite techniques; the man was afterall known for his silent killing skills.

"Don't think this will work on me, Zabuza. It's not the first time I've gone up against a Kiri-nin who has used this on me. The Sharingan may not be very helpful here, but a shinobi doesn't rely soley on one sense in a fight." Kakashi retorted. He searched around the perimeter, not liking his situation. Zabuza had definitely caught them in a vulnerable position; traveling in a forest...by a pond. Not good when it came to those who are specialized in both assassination _and_ water techniques.

Another laugh echoed throughout the area, "Oh, who says I was intending for the techniques to work on you?"

Kakashi cursed himself for not realizing his mistake sooner, and turned to the outlines of his three students and their client, "No..."

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke heard a chuckle, "Eight points..."

"What?" Sakura said, hearing the voice of the Jounin surrounding them.

"The larynx...spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys...heart..." spoke Zabuza in a voice that chilled not only the three Genin, but also Tazuna, to the bone, "...now...which point shall I attack?"

There was a silence that hung in the air for moments on end. Kakashi didn't dare make a move, least he get Zabuza's attention and risk himself being killed before he could do a thing. Naruto gripped his kunai tightly until his knuckles went white, Sakura couldn't help but tremble slightly, and Sasuke was finding his breathing pace go up a few notches. Tazuna even felt the monstrous killer intent of the ex-Kirigakure shinobi.

Kakashi closed his eyes for a moment, and began to channel chakra throughout his body, _'You won't be killing them, Zabuza...not while I'm still here.'_

With a burst of chakra, he expellled the thick mist, and looked around as the area cleared up. His Sharingan scanned the area for any movements or possible hints that could give away where Zabuza was hiding.

"Everyone, just stay calm." Kakashi spoke, feeling the fear ebbing off his three students, "I'll protect you with my life if I must. I promise that nothing will happen to you as long as I'm standing."

"I think you spoke too soon..." Everyone turned towards the source of the reply...which was right between Tazuna and the three Genin. Zabuza stood there with his sword at a ready position to strike down the four in a single slash, "It's over!"

Kakashi, with the mist gone, was able to see the movements of Zabuza. He dashed as quickly as his legs could carry him. Unfortunately, he didn't expect Naruto to try and stop the man before hand, "Naruto, no!"

It had been more on the lines of instinct than planning. Naruto had a kunai in hand, and reacted as such; stab Zabuza before he could strike first.

Zabuza grinned under his bandaged mask. He quickly grabbed a hold of the boy's arm with the kunai, twisted it enough to make him drop the weapon, kicked him in the gut, and then in a swift movement lifted Naruto by the throat. Everyone stopped in place as Zabuza took a step back from the others with the blond shinobi in hand, "Another move, and your blond haired friend here will be getting a nice breeze going through his airway."

"Naruto!" Sakura cried out, forcing herself to stay back as she watched Naruto cough a bit from the blow to the stomach.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. Damn it, why did Naruto do that? He had to think up a plan, and quickly...but how could he do anything without being noticed?

Kakashi pulled out a kunai, "Zabuza, drop my student this instant. _I_ am your opponent, not him."

Zabuza laughed, "Ha! Come on, Hatake, you and I both know that being a shinobi doesn't work that way..." he gave the masked Leaf Jounin a glare, "...give me the bridge builder and I'll give you the twerp."

_'Damn it. This was not what I had been planning for...this guy was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist for a reason...'_ Kakashi steeled himself, and sighed, "I have one shot at this. If I fail..."

Meanwhile, Naruto was finding it harder and harder to breath. Zabuza sneered, "Tch, you're nothing but a little kid playing ninja. You have no clue what it takes to be a shinobi, do you? Figures...Konoha always one of the softer villages with its shinobi." He squeezed harder on Naruto's throat, and Naruto began to gasp as he tried to breath, "I'll make it easier for you."

Zabuza ran through a few seals, "_**Suirou no Jutsu!**_" Water rose up and enclosed itself around Naruto as Zabuza looked at Naruto, "Now then, to take care of the others..._**Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!**_"

Sasuke grit his teeth, "Great, now we have a water clone to deal with..." Sasuke suddenly had an idea, "Sakura, I have an idea!"

Sakura turned to Sasuke and nodded, heading over to him. A few minutes passed, and then Sakura ran to Kakashi, speaking something to him. He nodded, then faced Zabuza again.

Kakashi carefully watched Zabuza and his water clone, "Zabuza, you've made a mistake in capturing my student like that..." Kakashi ran through some seals, and about a dozen water clones rose up from the water-saturated ground, "I'll just fight fire with fire...or in this case, water..."

Zabuza snickered, "You really think copying my techniques will work?" Zabuza shook his head, "You really are the Copy-cat Ninja..." Zabuza and his created eleven more of his own water clones, "I'll play your little game for now, Kakashi."

In an instant, the pond exploded in a flurry of water and mist. Kakashi and Zabuza didn't move an inch as the clones fought each other for dominance in the battle ground. However, at one point two clones smashed into each other with such force that water literally showered the area. Zabuza saw Kakashi standing there, unmoving, and in the next instant as the water came down, he was gone.

"Damn it...he snuck off..." the nuke-nin cursed, scanning the area with not a single clone by his side. Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura each pulled out a giant shuriken from their packs.

"Now, Sakura!" Sasuke yelled. Sakura and Sasuke threw their shuriken. Zabuza jumped up as Sasuke's went for his legs, and used his sword to block the second shuriken thrown by Sakura.

Just as Zabuza hit the shuriken away, a poof was heard and Zabuza turned to see Kakashi appear from what had been Sasuke's shuriken, "What?! A henge?!"

Kakashi pulled took his kunai in hand, and went for Zabuza's hand holding the water prision technique. Zabuza quickly jumped away, and the technique was released. Naruto fell into water, and began to swim to shore.

Zabuza stared at Kakashi, anger evident in his features. "...you're student's are clever, Kakashi."

"It's only expected of them...they are Leaf nin. Teamwork is one of the greatest tools a shinobi can have at his disposal..." The two clashed with their weapons, battling for the upper hand on the water's surface.

Naruto finally reached the shore, soaking wet, "Just glad the water wasn't so cold..."

Sakura and Sasuke helped Naruto up, "Idiot, what were you doing trying to fight a Jounin?"

Naruto gave a feeble glare to his adoptive brother, before giving them a nod of thankfulness,"Thanks for the help, Sasuke. You too, Sakura."

Sakura gave Naruto a light bop on the head, "Baka, you could have been killed!" She gripped Naruto by the collar, "What did I tell you about being reckless?!"

"Hehehe...s-sorry, Sakura-chan."

Tazuna ran up to the three, "Are you alright, kid?"

Naruto nodded, "I'm okay, old man."

The four turned to see Kakashi and Zabuza fighting each other on the water's edge. It was interesting though...Kakashi seemed to be copying Zabuza's every movement. Sakura and Tazuna looked perplexed while Naruto and Sasuke smirked, "Sharingan." the two spoke simutaneously.

Zabuza was miffed, "You stupid parrot, copying every word an action I make! I'll-"

"-shut that beak of yours for good." Kakashi finished, receiving an aggravated growl from the missing-nin.

The two circled each other perfectly for a few minutes, Kakashi copying every movement of Zabuza's as Zabuza continued to grow more and more infuriated.

"Kakashi can only hold onto the Sharingan for so long...if he goes too long with it, he'll be out of chakra." Sasuke spoke as he watched the two Jounin jump back and roll through seals.

"_**Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!!**_" they both shouted, and the water churned as two serpentine like forms rose up from the water. Much like the name, the water dragon creations shot out of the water, and aimed at each other. The two powerful water jutsus destroyed each other as they ravaged each other. The water showered down on them, both of them locked together, steel pressing against steel.

"How?! How did you do that?!" Zabuza ground out as he pressed his massive blade against Kakashi's kunai. It was quite a feat on the silver haired man's part, considering the difference in the size of their weapons, "How did you-"

"-know the jutsu I was about to use before I even finished?" Kakashi spoke quietly, not budging an inch.

"_Shut up!!_" Zabuza roared, jumping back and slashing horizontally at Kakashi. The silver haired Jounin ducked, and caught the foot Zabuza had intended to use to kick Kakashi away.

"You must be wondering how it's possible for me to see predict _every_ single move of yours..." Kakashi spoke, "..._nothing_ escapes the Sharingan, Zabuza...and you'll see first hand what I mean by that."

Kakashi tripped Zabuza up with his legs, and jumped back. Zabuza reeled back as well, and went through another round of seals, "Die, Copy-nin!"

As Zabuza went through the seals...he noticed Kakashi...doing the same ones. However, something was off. Zabuza was just about to finish...when he saw an image of himself appear beside Kakashi.

"H-he finished the jutsu before me? Damn it!"

"_**Daibakufu no Jutsu!**_" Kakashi yelled out. A giant vortex of water blasted out from the lake, and shot out at Zabuza. Zabuza, knowing that it'd be futile to get out of the way of the giant spinning waterfall.

"Gaaah!!" Zabuza yelled out as he was hit head on by the giant swirling water vortex. He was sent crashing into a tree as the water flooded the ground nearby.

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna had all taken to higher ground, and were watching as Kakashi appeared on the tree branch above Zabuza.

"H-how?" Zabuza croaked, "...can you see the future?"

"Yes," Kakashi replied, holding his kunai in hand, " Your future is death."

Before he could do anything further though, Kakashi heard the whistling of steel through the air. He looked to see three senbon needles fly into Zabuza's neck. He let out a gurgled cough before falling to the ground.

Kakashi looked to the direction the projectile had come from, and saw a figure in a mask typical of a Kirigakure Hunter-nin, "I ask that you forgive me for intruding like that, but we've been on his trail for a while now."

Kakashi nodded, "Ah, so you're a hunter-nin from Hidden Mist." He jumped down and put his fingers on Zabuza's neck, "Hm...no pulse...he's dead...really dead..."

The other four reached Kakashi and looked to the masked nin. Naruto then scrunched his face up as he stared at the newcomer, "Hey, who the heck are you?"

"I'm simply a hunter-nin that's been looking for Zabuza Momochi. He's wanted for his attempt at assassinating the Mizukage." He jumped down from his perch, and walked to the lifeless body of Zabuza.

"Well, it's good to see that he's being taken care of by the proper authorities I guess." Sakura said with a nod.

The boy nodded, "Yes, no, if you'll excuse me I-"

"Hold on..." Kakashi spoke to the boy who now had Zabuza's left arm hoisted on one of his shoulders as though he were going to carry him, "...I had always thought that Hunter-nin dispose of their targets' bodies on to risk anyone from intercepting it."

The boy was quiet for a moment, and then finished the handseal and vanished in a whirl of leaves.

Sasuke looked to Kakashi, "Something is up..."

Kakashi nodded, "That supposed 'Hunter-nin' was probably working with Zabuza. He may have just knocked Zabuza out and put him in a death-like sleep. Senbon needles are not only weapons but also used in medical practice. They are good for acupuncture and hitting pressure points to knock out patients, putting them in a near death-like sleep." Kakashi gave his students a hard look, "Which means that Zabuza is probably still alive."

Sakura blinked, "Um, Kakashi-sensei, I don't know if I heard you right. For a minute I thought I heard you say that Zabuza is probably still alive."

"Nope, you heard right." Kakashi said with a grin behind his mask, "Well, we should get going. No doubt Zabuza will need about a week to recover from the fight with me, not to mention he was knocked out..."

Sakura let out a little trembling giggle, "Oh...great...heheh..."

Sasuke looked at the spot where the two other ninja had disappeared moments ago. He frowned, "They'll be ready next time..."

"You're right about that." Kakashi looked to the three, "I have some training in mind when we reach Tazuna's house."

Tazuna nodded, "Thank you again for helping me. I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you fully, but know that what you're doing is helping the entire country of Wave."

Naruto grinned, "Aw, don't worry about it. It's what being a shinobi is all about!" He smirked, "We'll thrash that Zabuza and his friend next-"

A swift smack on the head from Kakashi cut Naruto off from speaking any further, "You should talk. Instead of trying to avoid battle with the enemy who was _clearly_ out of your league, you go and try to attack."

Naruto grumbled something before the group decided to get moving. That is until Kakashi started wobbling a bit.

"Kakashi!" Naruto called out, and Sasuke and Naruto quickly caught him before he fell backwards, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Kakashi groaned, "Well, looks like I'm experiencing some mild chakra exhaustion. I should be fine in a day or so...but I'm going to need someone to help me here."

The three students all looked to Tazuna, "...fine, I'll carry him..."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Haku sat in a secluded part of the woods, the motionless body of Zabuza by him. The boy pulled out a small medical kit from his kimono, and took out a pair of surgical tools that would help him remove the senbon needles in his mentor's neck.

Zabuza's eyes snapped open and grabbed Haku's wrist before he could set to work, "Forget it, I'll take them out."

The bandaged missing-nin yanked out the needles from his neck with a grunt, and tossed them aside, "Zabuza, you should be more careful or you really will die..."

Zabuza grunted, "You should talk; your aim is so good it looks like you were having trouble trying _not _to kill me back there."

Haku pulled off his mask, and smiled, revealing a rather handsome, if not feminine appearance, "I believe it was you who taught me how to be so deadly, thank you very much."

Zabuza rolled his eyes, "Kakashi is stronger than I imagined...and that _damned_ Sharingan of his." Zabuza slammed a fist into the ground, "I'll need to recover. Next time, he and those brats won't be so lucky."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kakashi sighed as he lie down on the mat in one of the empty bedrooms at Tazuna's house. He had been carried almost three miles by the bridge builder, and now here he was, helpless to the effects of simple chakra exhaustion for about a day now...

...Itachi would surely never let him hear the end of this one.

The door opened and Sakura came in with a tray of breakfast and some juice, "I swear, Kakashi-sensei, if that Sharingan drains your chakra so badly, then you shouldn't use it..." She had been on the man's case ever since they got to the house last night, telling him just how lucky he is to even be conscious after falling into exhaustion and that he shouldn't be so reckless with the doujutsu that Obito had given him.

"Sakura, give him a break, if he hadn't used the Sharingan, we'd all be lunch meat for the wolves by now." Sasuke said walking in, followed by Naruto. Following them was Tsunami, the daughter of Tazuna. She had long black hair, not unlike that of Sasuke and Naruto's mother. She was around her late twenties or so, Kakashi imagined.

"So, Kakashi, when do we get to train?" Naruto asked, looking at Kakashi with an eager grin. Kakashi nodded, "Right, right. We'll get to that as soon as I'm able to walk, which should be in a day or so."

Naruto blinked, "Huh? A day? Zabuza could attack us by-"

"Zabuza is no doubt also trying to recover right now. He had taken a worse beating than I did, so he is most likely trying to build back his strength. He'll be at least a week or more before he's moving around again." Kakashi replied, "In the mean time, I want you three doing the normal drills we went over near where Tazuna is building. Keep an eye on the bridge workers as you do so."

The three saluted, and ran down to inform Tazuna of the matter. Tsunami stayed for a moment longer, "Kakashi-san?"

"Yes?"

Tsunami smiled lightly, "Thank you...for putting life on the line to protect my father. My family isn't that rich...but please know that we are forever in you and your students' debt."

Kakashi smiled a bit, his eye closing as he did so, "Think nothing of it. Although, I never thought I'd see the day where we're openly going against Gato. I wouldn't be the first to state that many shinobi have wanted to see the man dead...but the man is so well guarded that assassinations for him are well with in the A or higher rank in many cases."

Tsunami nodded, "Yes...he's really been an oppressive force on our country. He's..." she stopped for a moment, "...he's caused a lot of grief and hardship for us...all of us. Even our country's own daiyamo is suffering from the man's iron grip on the shipping here."

Kakashi watched as the woman excused herself, and then he looked out to see the mid-morning light shine through, "I need to get better...fast."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were eating breakfast down in the kitchen with Tazuna. Despite the relatively poor condition of the people in Wave, Tazuna's family _was_ one of the more fortunate families as far as food and other necessities.

"So, if this bridge of yours is completed...then Gato will no doubt lose a lot of business here." Sasuke spoke, "You really are in danger..."

Tazuna, despite the gravity of the Uchiha's statement, laughed, "I guess so. To be honest, I'm not all that upset by it. The man himself is weak, it's his money that allows him to be so powerful. A man hiding behind his wealth is a coward in my eyes."

A door opened from the outside, and in stepped a boy wearing a white hat covering his black hair. As he saw the three Genin eating, he frowned, "Why are you ninja still here? You're going to die if you stay any longer, don't you get it?!"

"Inari, that's enough!" Tsunami snapped, walking in from upstairs, "These four ninja are responsible for your grandfather still being alive."

Inari looked at the three, "Like it matters, heroes don't exist in Wave. Gato just kills them off!" He grabbed a fruit from the table and stormed outside again.

Naruto glared at the door that Inari had shut, "That kid needs to have someone remove the stick that was shoved up his a-"

"Naruto!" Sakura spoke, cutting him off, "You're not any better by talking bad about him."

"He's got a point, Sakura." Sasuke said, taking another bite of his breakfast.

Sakura sighed, and finished her food, "Well, I can't really blame him for being so down all the time. Gato really is a jerk."

Tazuna gave the three a saddened look, "Inari...wasn't always like that." He looked up to the wall to see a picture with four people in it. Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami were in there, but the fourth person remained unknown, for their face had been torn out of the picture, "I'll explain it all to you later. Come on now, that bridge won't be building itself!"

"He makes it sound like we're going to help him build." Naruto said in a hushed voice.

"Oh, but you will be. Kakashi gave me permission to have you help me." Tazuna said, a smirk gracing his face, "I sure hope you all know how to carry crates, heheh."

The three Genin all dropped their heads, fearing that trying to catch Tora for another week may have been a better choice than this.

**end of** **Chapter Four- Wow, this story took a while to post. Heh, my job is owning my summer right now, so updates are of course very sparse. Anyway, I hope you liked chapter four. Expect some drastic changes from the canon in the next chapter. For those of you who noticed the few changes I put into this chapter compared to what happened in the canon, good for you! As always, reviews are good, so let me know what you think! Well, until next time!**

**_Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu __-- Fire Release: Fireball Technique (origingal)- _**A fire jutsu used by many of the clan members of the Uchiha clan, as well as quite a few shinobi of Konoha. The user does the necessary hand seals, draws the necessary chakra from their mouth to their chest, and exhales it in a steady stream of flames, creating a fireball. On a sidenote, the Uchiha clan considere being able to master this technique as a rite of passage into adulthood, and being recognized as a true member of the clan, and no longer as a child.

_**Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu**__**-- Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique (original)- **_A ninjutsu that uses the Earth element. The user travels underground, and grabs hold of the enemies feet. Surprising the foe, they yank them underground, thus immobilizing them.

_**Kirigakure no Jutsu**__**-- Hidden Mist Technique (original)- **_A ninjutsu utilized by the shinobi of Hidden Mist Village. Like it's name implies, the user creates a blanket of fog that covers the area around their opponent. The low visibility is great for assassinating the enemy silently and without the risk of being seen.

_**Suirou no Jutsu**__**-- Water Prison Technique (original)- **_Making the proper hand seals, the user of this jutsu creates a sphere of water which encircles the opponent, severely limiting their movement. The opponent cannot escape from the water, and as long as the user maintains contact with the water sphere, the jutsu will hold them in place. However, if contact between the user and the water prison is broken, the water sphere collapses.

_**Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu**__**-- Water Clone Technique (original)- **_A jutsu where the user creates a clone of themselves from the water around them. Also, unlike a normal _**Bunshin**_, a _**Mizu Bunshin**_ has a physical substance, and can thus carry out limited actions and interact with the environment more, such as attacking an enemy. However, the water clone cannot travel far from the original body, and if it is struck by the enemy, it will revert back to its water state.

_**Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu**__**-- Water Release: Water Dragon Projectile Technique (original)-**_ A water based ninjutsu where the user goes through a long series of seals. Then, a large column of water rises up and forms into a dragon-like shape, attacking the opponent.

_**Daibakufu no Jutsu**__**-- Grand Waterfall Technique (original)- **_After doing the needed hand seals, the user will have a large column of water circle around them. Then, a large force of water erupts forth to attack the user. Since the attack is so powerful, the user is at the mercy of the water as it pushes them along the current at a fast pace.


	5. Ripples and Waves: Part Two

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, but I will not admit that his Narutoverse is better than my made up one...**

Kakashi: You're pitiful...

Denim88: Kakashi, how could you?!

**Kakashi: It's what I do best.**

Denim88: B-but, I always make you to be so cool in my stories!

Kakashi: Yes, but you also make me into a somewhat sarcastic jerk. I can't help it.

**Denim88: ...I'm so making you do a sit-up contest with Gai in this fic now...**

**Chapter Five: Ripples and Waves- Part Two**

"Ninety-seven...ninety-eight..."

"Dobe, quit showing off..." Sasuke grunted as Naruto was squatting with one one of the bridges beams as weight, "...and besides, using Shadow Clones doesn't count."

Naruto grumbled something about jealous brothers before he and the six clones set down the beam. Naruto then dispelled his clones while letting out a sigh, "Well, I can't help it! I'm bored! Sure, we got to do some chakra tree climbing yesterday, but dang it, why do _we_ have to help build this bridge? Our job was to protect that geezer, not help construct this huge bridge!"

Sasuke shrugged, "We weren't supposed to be dealing with Chunin and Jounin level shinobi, either...the mission's changed, so the objectives to complete the goal of the mission also have been changed a bit."

Sakura, who was currently standing on the water just a little ways off from the shore, overheard the two boys, "Yeah, well, it doesn't help that we only get a ten minute break for every four hours of work!!"

Naruto was about to continue with his ranting when Tazuna walked over to the kids, "Do I hear complaining??"

The three Genin paled slightly, "N-no, Tazuna-san! We were just talking about how amazing this bridge is!" Sakura replied while running up the side of one of the bridge's support beams, and hopping up to the others, "Is there anything you need?"

Tazuna smiled a bit while shaking his head, "Nope. Just do your job and make sure we aren't attacked. The construction crew is ahead of schedule today, so we'll be good for now."

The three Genin sighed in relief. The three recalled the first time they complained about working on the bridge...Tazuna had complained to Kakashi about this, and as a punishment for 'failing to comply with their duty' were forced to jog around the village for two whole hours...with ankle weights and only a single five minute break...on the bright side, they all got the next day off, and had calf and thigh muscles made of steel within the first week of their stay in Wave.

Naruto stuck his tongue out at the old man as he walked away to continue work, and Sakura sighed, "I wonder what Kakashi-sensei is doing..."

"Probably trying to learn a new card trick...and failing at it." Sasuke spoke, getting a chuckle out of the group.

"Actually, I was just about to see how you three were doing, and take you all out for lunch..."

The three froze in place as the semi-serious voice of their Jounin teacher, "K-Kakashi-sensei! Hey...we were hoping you'd be here! We wanted to see if you could show us that one trick with the Queen of Hearts..." Sakura said with a nervous chuckle.

"_Really_?" Kakashi hopped down from the railing of the bridge, "I'm afraid I didn't bring my cards today...but...I did bring some training weights..."

The three kids sighed simultaneously, and wished that Zabuza would arrive and start a rampage on the workers...then maybe he could end their suffering...

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Zabuza sat in his bed deep within the misty woods of Wave Country where his hideout was located. Haku was in a corner of the room, making a cup of tea while the smell of incense hung in the air.

"Haku, how many times do I have to tell you to put that damned incense candle out?"

Haku smiled as he turned around to face his mentor, "It's for calming the nerves, Zabuza-san. I'm only doing it to help you relax and feel better."

Zabuza grumbled as he rolled over to his side, "I swear, if I'd known that Kakashi Hatake would have been my opponent..."

The sound of feet walking up to the door of their hideout alerted the two missing-nin. Haku sat up abruptly from his chair, ready for an attack while Zabuza reached for a kunai under his pillow.

The door opened casually as Gato and two of his giant henchmen appeared, "Zabuza! What's the meaning of this? I hired you to kill the bridge builder, not lie around in your bed like a sick child!"

Zabuza's eyes narrowed, "Relax, I had a slight set back. They had a Jounin of great skill with them. I believe you've heard of him...Kakashi Hatake."

Even Gato heard of the legendary Copy-cat Ninja of Konohagakure, "...I see. It still doesn't excuse your failure! I'm giving you one last chance, and if you fail, it'll be the end of you working for me. Got it?"

Zabuza shrugged, "Like you can afford to get rid of me..."

Gato took an intimidating step towards the former Kirigakure Jounin, "What was that?" He made a motion to poke Zabuza in the chest with his cane, but was stopped by the boy, who gripped his wrist, "What the hell?"

Haku's eyes flashed dangerously, "Leave Zabuza-san alone..." The boy's grip tightened significantly, and eventually a sound of bones snapping was heard as Gato yelped in pain.

"Gaaaah! You little piece of-" He cut himself off as he took a step back, nursing his broken wrist, "Son of a..." His eyes narrowed as he looked at the younger ninja behind his sunglasses, "...if you weren't a shinobi..."

Zabuza spoke up, "Gato...give me two weeks to heal up...the bridge will still be under construction. Two weeks...and the bridge builder will be dead..."

Gato nodded, although the grimace on his face never left, "Two weeks...nothing more...nothing less." With that, the tycoon and his two henchmen walked out of the hut. Zabuza turned to Haku, and narrowed his eyes a bit.

"Breaking his wrist was a bit much, Haku." Zabuza spoke, "Though, he did deserve it."

The younger ninja returned to brewing his tea as the older ninja returned to resting. Within two weeks time, they would be done with this mission, and hopefully out of this poverty-stricken country too.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Itachi was going through some old family archives on the Uchiha clan after having a talk with his mother. Well...he had been going over some old family archives. He now understood what his mother had meant when she said that he wouldn't be able to see his family in the same way.

A coup d'etat? The Uchiha had been planning on seizing power? A swift takeover of Konoha? Truthfully, Itachi wouldn't be all that surprised...the Uchiha had always been a relatively arrogant clan. It also explained how his father had been angry with how his eldest son had been slow with his promotions. Itachi was going to be the main tool used to get information from the Hokage when he became an ANBU.

Itachi knew the rest from there. Shisui, after much debate between the Sandaime and the higher seats of Konoha's council, was ordered to eliminate the Uchiha clan. At least, that was the plan until a sudden calling off of the plan was made. Shisui got this message, but apparently still went through with it. The reason for the Uchiha clan massacre was different though...

Itachi looked at the small letter that Shisui had addressed to him personally. Itachi had found the letter in Shisui's room after he had done some investigation of his own. What it had told him had shaken the teenage Uchiha to his very core. To think that his clan had such a dark history disturbed him to no end. He was just glad that his brother was not aware of it all. Eventually he'd tell him...eventually. Not now though. The secrets that Shisui had revealed to Itachi were just not something he was able to digest so quickly.

Itachi unfolded the letter, and read over it one last time, Sharingan activated, to make sure he didn't miss anything...

_Itachi,_

_If you're reading this letter, than either one of two things has happened; I've failed to kill you, or you have killed me. What I am about to reveal to you is true, no matter how much you will refuse to believe it._

_As you know, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju fought at the Valley of the End to the death over the leadership of Konoha, resulting in Madara's death.  
_

_The truth is that this fact is a complete and utter lie. Madara Uchiha is alive, and simply fooled the entire Konoha population with his death. I have met him, and he has shown me the utter stupidity of our clan. The Uchiha of the present day are but a shadow of what they once were. Madara wishes to change that. He has been teaching me for several years now, secretly, planning the fall of Konoha._

_The last order gave me before I defected Konoha was to wipe out the Uchiha clan. The Sandaime coincidentally had given me similar orders, but later revoked them. Seeing as you are reading this letter, than I have not completed that goal. Nevertheless, you and any other survivors can take comfort in the fact that I will not strike for some time._

Aside from this, the only other information I feel you should know is that of the Uchiha clan's true powers. I give you these directions to the hidden room of the Uchiha clan main household...there, you will learn the clan's darkest secrets.  


Itachi threw the letter to the ground as he looked at the table with the secret family scrolls of the Uchiha clan. It all made sense...

The reason the Military Police was developed separately from the ANBU.

The reason Fugaku had been so adamant on getting Itachi _into_ ANBU.

The reason why his father had despised Naruto so much...

The reason why Shisui had become such good friends with Itachi...and then tried to kill him.

Kyuubi...Madara...Shisui...Mangekyou Sharingan...

The Uchiha heir growled in frustration, and sat up. He knew why his mother had been so hesitant to tell him these things. She apparently had revealed the plan for a coup d'etat to the Sandaime shortly after Itachi had been made ANBU. Originally, she had been in support alongside Fugaku. However, she met Naruto, and realized that the past was the past.

Itachi looked at the letter, and picked it up. Then he looked at a scroll with a symbol of the Sharingan and a picture of the Kyuubi.

"...good thing the Hokage was already suspicious..." Itachi sighed, and blew out the candle as he walked up the steps leading to the trap door with the varios papers in hand.

The Uchiha heir covered the trap door and slowly walked to the den room where his mother was reading a book while sipping some tea. The light of the single lantern illuminated the otherwise dark room.

Mikoto looked up from her reading, and immediately noticed her son's emotionless features, "Itachi..." She walked up and hugged him tightly, "I'm sorry I never told you sooner...if you're angry with me, I completely-"

"Kaa-san, I'm not angry at you. I'm glad you told the Hokage...and thought for what was best for everyone...not the clan."

Mikoto let a few tears fall, "...your father...he was...he was just so bent on the 'glory' of the clan. Even though I'm an Uchiha...I don't have the Sharingan. He was always obsessed with you getting stronger...so he could use you as a leak to get information on the village."

Itachi sighed as he let go, "...we'll have to tell Sasuke...someday...and Naruto..."

Mikoto looked even more fearful her third son was mentioned, "Naruto?"

Itachi dug through his pockets, and held the letter from Shisui and the scroll of the power of the clan over the nine-tailed fox.

A half hour later found Mikoto shaking a bit as she let a few tears fall, "...I never knew that..."

"Madara had the ability to control the Kyuubi. Which leads me to believe that Shisui claiming he's still alive may very well be true...and if this is true, then Naruto may very well be in danger as well as Sasuke, you, and myself." Itachi picked up the scroll and the letter, and headed out the door, "I'm going to inform the Hokage of this. I'm sure he already knows a large amount of this...but I feel that this could help insure our village's safety."

Itachi walked out the door as Mikoto brushed away a tear, and stood up. She walked over to a picture of the Uchiha family of recent. Naruto and Sasuke were standing in front of Itachi, who had his arms around either one of them, while Mikoto stood at her eldest son's side. Naruto had a large grin on his face while Sasuke and Itachi was smiling as well.

To think that the boy she had adopted...the boy that had saved her two sons...who she had taken in as her own....

She took in a deep breath, and headed to her room. She needed sleep. Tomorrow she'd be out on patrol again. She only hoped that Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura were okay. Kakashi was surely taking good care of them...

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kakashi had been rather annoyed when Sakura and Sasuke told him that Naruto was training extra after the initial five hour session.

Luckily, he didn't have to go far to find the blond, "Naruto, get down from there."

Naruto was hanging by his feet from a rather high branch in the forest. He was doing ab-crunches while holding a rock in the two arms for added weight, and looked to have abandoned his shirt and jacket, likely because of sweat and stink. He was looking a bit tired, but he was determined as hell if Kakashi could say anything else about the blond.

"Naruto...why don't you come down here and get some supper? Tsunami spent so much time cooking up a nice meal, and was heartbroken that you weren't there to enjoy it." Okay, that was a lie, but Kakashi figured that he may as well try it on Naruto. If all else failed, he could pull out the trump card.

"Nah, I'm going to do fifty more, Kakashi! I'll be down afterwards!"

"...Naruto, there's no point to going crazy with the workouts when you're too sore to do anything the next day." Kakashi sighed, getting ready to use said 'trump card'.

"Aw, come on, fifty more, I promise...sixteen, seventeen..."

"...get down or I'll be telling your mother that you refused to eat dinner."

Naruto paused in mid-crunch, and glared at the man, "You've been hanging out with Sakura-chan too much. Only she uses that against me." Naruto dropped the rock, and flipped so he was standing on the branch. He slowly walked down and grabbed his shirt, "...you won't tell Sakura-chan and Mom...will you?"

Kakashi smiled a bit, "I guess not. Just try to listen to me from now on while on a mission." Kakashi ruffled the boy's hair, and the two began walking back to Tazuna's house, "So...Sasuke tells me that you want to learn how to use the _**Goukakyuu no Jutsu**_. Is that right?"

"...I've been wanting to for a couple years now. He said he'll teach me someday, but Itachi said that I'm not suited for it." the blond Genin replied. Kakashi gave a nod as they exited the forest.

"Itachi's explained a bit to you about the elemental affinities, right?"

"Yeah...fire, water, earth, lightning, and wind...well, he said those are the basic ones anyway." the blond scratched his head, "What about them?"

"Perhaps you're not affiliated with the fire nature. It's very possible that you're a person with an affinity to water, or earth, or maybe something completely different." Kakashi explained, "You're still a bit young to be learning elemental jutsu...but I'm sure if I find out a bit more about you're affinity that I can help you start learning jutsu after we're done here."

Naruto blinked, and his face split into a grin, "You really mean it?!"

Kakashi chuckled, "Yes, I do. However, the basics are what you should get down _first_. The chakra control of all three of you has improved greatly, and Sakura's managed to improve her chakra capacity by a little with all the helping of the bridge."

The two were soon entering the kitchen of Tazuna's household, and greeted by the bridge builder himself. He smiled at the blond, "Naruto, there you are. I'd recommend not making too much noise...Sakura was a bit frantic after seven o' clock rolled around..."

Naruto paled a bit, and turned to Kakashi, "Um...yeah. She was saying something 'dumb blond idiots worrying her sick' or something to that extent. Regardless, I think it'd be in your best interest to use that stealth of yours and be quiet, unless you awaken her and face the music."

"Ri-right..." He quietly sat down at the table and ate the food left out for him. He noticed a small note by his plate, and picked it up.

_Naruto,_

_Sakura will be kicking your sorry rear into next week tomorrow. Just thought I'd let you know ahead of time._

_Sasuke_

Naruto groaned a bit before digging into his food. He ate quietly, determined not to make a sound that would awaken his kunoichi teammate. Hopefully Zabuza would come here tonight while he was asleep and kill him so he could avoid having Sakura obliterate him...the girl had a nasty uppercut.

"Oh, Naruto, by the way," Kakashi spoke while looking up from his game of solitaire he had started, "We'll be sparring tomorrow, and Sakura will be your partner."

The Genin's jaw dropped a bit, "You hate me, don't you?"

Kakashi gave the boy a masked grin, "Not at all; I just don't like calming a somewhat angry Sakura while Sasuke decides to go missing after you didn't show up for dinner. That's all."

The blond gave a defeated sigh while Tazuna chuckled quietly, patting the kid on the back.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"You idiot!!! You didn't even let us know where you were!!! What if you were attacked?! Yaaaaah!!!"

"S-Sakura-chan, you really should calm down, I mean we're only spar-gah!" Naruto dove out of the way of another flying heel-drop from the kunoichi, watching as a slight indentation in the ground formed.

"Damn it, Naruto! Zabuza is out there! What if he found you?" Sakura yelled as she charged at Naruto, managing to deliver a spinning kick to the blond, which he blocked.

Naruto had to admit, the extra lessons she had been taking with Kakashi on taijutsu were showing. She was currently in the works of developing a style of her own that used her amazing flexibility with her somewhat disturbing strength. Lucky for Naruto, training with Uchiha gave him some experience in evading and countering.

Meanwhile, Sasuke and Kakashi were watching the two from the sides, having opted for a short break, "She's really wailing on him, isn't she?"

"Yeah...though this isn't half as bad as the one time she caught Naruto trying to sneak into the adult bookstore..." the young Uchiha replied, "I think she's only hard on him though because she cares about him..."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "You think so?"

Sasuke was quiet for a moment before he spoke in a hushed tone, "You didn't hear it from me, but Sakura's mother told my mother that the girl has a mild crush on him...okay, not a crush, but..."

"I understand."

Sasuke nodded, "Yeah, well, Naruto is obviously somewhat of a clueless person, and he can't tell."

The two were quiet for a while again, the only sound being Naruto apologizing as he counter-grappled Sakura in a rather suggestive way by mistake.

"I give them another three years..."

Sasuke looked to his sensei, "Three years?"

"Three years..."

Sasuke smiled, "You want to make a bet?"

Kakashi thought for a moment. His track record with making bets with the Uchiha wasn't all that good lately. He tapped his chin for a moment, "Three years. Fifty ryo."

Sasuke smirked, "Fair enough. Three years. I'm thinking two. What do you say we start a pool?"

"A pool? Who else would be interested?"

Sasuke ticked off a few fingers, "Kaa-san...Nii-san...Ino, Kiba, Hana, Sakura's mother...Kiba's sister might be interested...let's see..."

"Geesh, if that's the case, I'm bumping my amount to one-hundred ryo." Kakashi spoke as he made a mental note to start having Sakura and Naruto spar against each other more often.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Another week had come and gone in Wave, and the construction team had made an amazing amount of progress. They had managed to get even further ahead of schedule, so only two shinobi from Team Seven were assigned to guard Tazuna while he built the bridge.

As such, Naruto was currently taking advantage of his time off from guard duty by practicing some taijutsu drills in the woods behind Tazuna's house. He had come up with the ingenious idea of using Shadow Clones to spar with him.

Needless to say, with the blond's natural tendency to overdue everything, he ended up tiring himself out by the time noon rolled around, and had fallen asleep.

Around four in the afternoon, the blond was awakened by the feeling of someone's hand shaking his shoulder. He opened one eye, and looked to see a rather gentle face staring back at him, "Oh, good, you're okay. I thought something was wrong with you for a moment. You were passed out in the middle of this clearing..."

Naruto took in the person's features. Long, black hair, and a face that seemed like it was made of porcelain. However, Itachi had taught Naruto and Sasuke a few key things about looking at people. Naruto noticed the Adam's Apple, though he would have missed it had he not looked. The fact that the boy had tied a cloth around it was interesting...and made Naruto curious.

"Ah, hahaha, sorry Nii-chan. I was busy training, and I guessed I just got tired and fell asleep...thanks for waking me up!" Naruto chuckled, watching the boy's calm features slip for a second.

_"He can tell that I'm a male...he's much more clever than I thought...no use in trying to hide my disguise then..."_ Haku smiled, "Not a problem. So...I take it you're a ninja?"

Naruto nodded, "That's right! Someday, I'm going to be Hokage!"

Haku chuckled, "I see. Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Haku set down his basket of medicinal herbs. Naruto nodded, "What is the reason that you fight?"

Naruto pondered that for a moment, "Well...I fight so I can get stronger...and so I can help my team. That way, when I get strong enough, I'll be recognized by everyone! Right now though, I can't even beat Kakashi-sensei or Itachi-niisan...even my mom could probably still beat me easily."

"Do you fight for someone?"

"Huh?"

Haku repeated his question, more serious this time, "Is there someone that you fight for? Someone that you hold precious to you, that you are willing to protect? A precious person?"

"I...I guess so. My brothers and mom, Sakura-chan...Iruka-sensei...Kakashi-sensei...Jii-san...I guess there's more, but those are the people I've known longest. I guess those are my precious people..."

Haku was both surprised and quite happy to hear this, "Good. A person is strongest when they fight for the ones they wish to protect..."

Haku stood up, and picked up his basket, "Well, I must be going now. Take care, shinobi of Konoha."

Naruto grinned, "Okay! Later, Nii-san!" As the black haired boy walked off, Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen him somewhere before...and it bothered him even more with that little speech he gave Naruto, "Precious...people..."

The days flew by rather quickly, and before Naruto knew it, another week was nearly over. Team Seven had improved by leaps and bounds it seemed. Sakura was starting to take some short Genjutsu lessons from Kakashi during the spare time she had. Sasuke had mastered another fire jutsu (Itachi would no doubt be testing him once he heard this), and Naruto's chakra control had improved by a significant margin.

Naruto had once again found himself waking up in the small forest outside of Tazuna's house, early morning dew glistening in the grass around him. He yawned as he stretched his tired muscles. Dang...that had been quite a workout last night. He had managed to defeat fifty of his own Shadow Clones within only two hours time. Not bad, considering that he had been doing some harsh training before that.

Naruto pushed himself up off the wet grass, and started to head back to the bridge builder's house. No doubt he'd get berated by Sakura for sleeping out in the woods again...

That's when he felt it...killing intent. He froze in place, and focused his senses. It wasn't like the same killer intent he faced against Zabuza...but it was still noticeable. He heard the distant sound of shattering glass, and his suspicions were confirmed.

"Crap!!" Naruto jetted off to Tazuna's house, pumping his legs for all they were worth.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Leave my mother alone!!" Inari yelled to the two men who were holding his mother captive. They had managed to drag her outside to the dock of the house. No doubt this was Gato's doing.

"Beat it, brat, or we'll just kill your mother right here in front of you." the taller one chuckled.

"Inari, get out of here!" Tsunami spoke, biting down the fear for her own life as her will to protect her son took priority, "Please," she turned to the man holding her captive, "I'll do anything you say, just let my son go!"

The shorter of the two spoke, "Fine, lady. Gato's not interested in the kid anyway..." The two men began pushing Tsunami off towards the direction of the bridge as Inari stood in place, shaking with fear.

He was doing it again...being a coward. He could still recall what that Hatake guy had said a few nights ago...about Naruto...

"I have to stop being afraid..." Inari shook, "...no...it's okay to be afraid..." Inari looked to the two men's backs, and his mother, "I've been running away for too long...even if I'm afraid, it doesn't mean I can't stand up for myself...and my family!"

The sound of Inari's feet pounding on the dock was heard. The two men turned to see the boy yelling for them to let go of his mother, and they both chuckled as they began to pull out their blades.

"Inari! What are you doing?!" Tsunami screamed, tears nearly rolling down her cheeks. These men were looking like they were ready to kill...

"Looks like we can't keep the deal, lady. The kid's becoming a pain..." spoke the shorter one, his grin showing anything but remorse.

Inari was only feet away from the men, who now had their blades ready to swipe him in half. Tsunami screamed out when suddenly...

"_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_!!!"

Tsunami opened her eyes just in time to see two clones of none other than Naruto snap-kicking the two thugs into the air. As they hung suspended in the air, two more Naruto's appeared above them, and delivered powerful stomps to their stomachs. They crashed onto the docks, causing the wooden structure to break. The two men were floating over the water, belly facing upward. A fifth Naruto appeared before Tsunami, and the four dispersed.

"N-Naruto?" Tsunami spoke, still shocked by what happened, "How did you-?"

"I heard glass shattering outside your house...I had a feeling something was wrong, so I ran here as quick as I could..." Naruto turned to Inari, "Inari...good job...you didn't run from your fears. I could tell you were scared, but you decided to fight anyway." He gave Inari a thumbs up, "That's what it means to be a hero...your dad would have been proud of you!"

Inari's mouth was slightly open as he felt tears prick his eyes. He would not cry...he would not...

"It's okay to cry sometimes, Inari." Naruto spoke. Inari nodded, and let silent sobs out. Naruto had saved his mother...he owed the blond debt he could not pay...

"Thank you, Naruto." Tsunami spoke, getting to her feet as Naruto freed her from her bindings, "...I think your team went to the bridge...I think it'd be best to meet up with them. We'll go warn the other villagers."

Naruto nodded, before running off towards the massive bridge. He had to hurry...he had to. His team...no...not just his team, his family was waiting for him! He wouldn't let Zabuza or Gato harm them!

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The mist was heavy as Sakura and Sasuke encircled Tazuna as best as they could. Kakashi was a few feet away from them, a kunai in hand.

_"Hehehehe....what's the matter, Kakashi? Can't find me this time...can you?" _spoke the echoing voice of Zabuza, _"It's funny, really. You fooled me with a simple Genjutsu before...making me think that I was fighting a man with the ability to read my every move..."_

"I take it you're in back to full strength, Zabuza. Good to hear. The circumstances are still the same though; I'm not letting you kill Tazuna..." replied the Konoha Jounin.

A laughter echoed around the four, and the mist cleared a bit as two figures approached, "As I expected. This time, I won't be wasting time with you..." spoke the missing-nin of Kirigakure, "This time, I'll end this quickly..."

Sakura was the first to speak as she noticed a second person alongside the missing-nin, "Kakashi-sensei, that's-"

Kakashi nodded, "Yeah, that must be Zabuza's accomplice..." he narrowed his eyes, "I take it you're both nuke-nin then?"

Zabuza nodded, "Haku's my apprentice...and he's more powerful than all of your student's put together." Zabuza looked to the masked boy, "Haku, attack the boy first..."

"Right, Zabuza-san..." Haku dissapeared, and Sasuke barely had time to block a kick from the older boy.

"Heh...you're as fast as I thought..." Sasuke smirked, "...but I've been preparing for a fight like this..." Sasuke tripped Haku with his other foot, and made to axe-kick the boy when he fell. Haku quickly recovered and flipped back to his stance.

"You'll never defeat me with that speed, Uchiha." Haku spoke quietly, "I'm giving you a chance...surrender..."

"Not a chance," Sasuke replied, and the two were soon fighting with kunai and senbon, steel clashing with steel.

"Sakura, guard Tazuna with your life!" Kakashi called over his shoulder, and turned to face Zabuza, "...you shouldn't have comeback, Zabuza..."

Zabuza unstrapped his sword from his back, and laughed, "Don't act so tough, Hatake. You're the one who's got more riding on his shoulders right now...and I noticed something..."

"Oh? What would that be?"

Zabuza's grin could be seen under his bandaged face, "...you're missing a student. I wonder...where could he be?"

Kakashi's eyes narrowed, "...Naruto's not a pushover...I'm not worried about his abilities."

Zabuza cracked his neck a bit, and spoke once more, "Tch, as if I give a damn about the brat. He's nothing more than a kid wearing ninja-gear in my opinion. A fake, just like the rest of your students. If he shows up, I'll just lob off his head as well.." He prepared himself, blade poised, "Let's get this started already, Kakashi!"

So began the fight on the bridge of Wave Country...

**End of Chapter Five- Yep, I finally decided to update this fic. I realize that some parts from the manga/anime were cut out, but you can assume they happened. Anyway, things are finally starting to get tense for Team Seven again. What will happen next? You want to know? Hmm...well, that'd be telling, and I don't enjoy spoiling the story for my readers that much. Heheh, guess you'll just have to wait. Well, thanks as always for reading, and let me know what your thoughts are! Later!**

**_Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu __-- Fire Release: Fireball Technique (series)- _**A fire jutsu used by many of the clan members of the Uchiha clan, as well as quite a few shinobi of Konoha. The user does the necessary hand seals, draws the necessary chakra from their mouth to their chest, and exhales it in a steady stream of flames, creating a fireball. On a sidenote, the Uchiha clan considere being able to master this technique as a rite of passage into adulthood, and being recognized as a true member of the clan, and no longer as a child.

_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu-- Shadow Clone Technique- (series)- **_Unlike the _**Bunshin no Jutsu**_,_** Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **_is a technique that creates a copy of the user that has both form and substance by distributing chakra into the clone. The Shadow Clone can also use any jutsu and other tactics the original user has on knowledge. Once the clone is dispersed by an attack, damage, or by the user themselves, all information gained from the clone is passed onto the original ninja, as well as any other clones.


	6. Ripples and Waves: Part Three

**Disclaimer: As the saying goes, you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find...wait, no, I still wouldn't own Naruto. Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto.**

**Chapter Six: Ripples and Waves- Part Three**

"I really would rather not continue fighting you. Please surrender, and I will spare your life." spoke Haku as he brandished a few more senbon.

"Sorry, but I have a mission that my team and I are supposed to complete. Guarding Tazuna is part of that mission's completion."

"I see that you won't back down. Very well." Haku quickly caught a fist from Sasuke, and gripped it tightly while running through one-handed seals. The nearby water began to rise into the air, and Sasuke noted the temperature began to cool to nearly freezing.

Sasuke watched as the water droplets began to expand and freeze, "What the-?"

"Please forgive me," Haku finished his seals while jumping back from Sasuke, "**_Sensatsu Suishou_**!"

The needles of ice moved quickly to impale Sasuke from all angles. The Uchiha boy quickly dashed back, watching at the needles crashed into the cement where he had been standing, "Ice techniques? That's something I've never seen before."

"Yes, it's unique to my bloodline. Hyouton jutsu is a unique combination of both ice and wind, and my mother's clan had the unique ability to create such a jutsu as this." Haku raised his hands, and more ice needles appeared, "Perhaps you will reconsider now?"

"Don't count on it." Sasuke said, and whipped through a series of his own seals, "**_Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu_**!!!"

Haku almost felt like sighing, and whipped through more seals. Right before the fireball hit, a large mirror of ice rose up from another puddle, and the fireball disappeared in a blast of steam, "I told you, I don't want to fight you. It's pointless, and I'd rather not kill you."

"Hn, you act as though the battle has already been one for you." Sasuke watched as Haku disappeared, and not a moment later, the masked boy was behind the Uchiha. The young Uchiha quickly spun around, catching the foot of Haku as he attempted to kick him in the temple, "You're still not fast enough."

"Fast enough? I'm sorry, but you don't know the _meaning_ of the word fast." Haku spoke, an edge in his voice that had not been present before.

Sasuke tripped Haku's other foot up, but Haku quickly caught himself by landing gracefully on his hand, and gave a rising kick to smash into Sasuke's jaw. The raven haired boy leaned back, and flipped backwards as Haku attempted a follow up with his other foot.

Haku landed on his feet, and went into a ready stance as Sasuke pulled out another kunai, "Well, so far I haven't seen anything that remarkable about you and your ice abilities. Hell, Naruto's given me more of a challenge than you are right now."

"You wish to see my true speed?" Haku asked with what almost sounded like hurt, "I won't hold back then." Haku went through a plethora of seals before the air chilled further, "**_Makyou Hyoushou_**!"

Sasuke watched as the water around him formed into a ring of mirrors that were raised several feet in the air, with little space between them. Sasuke was trapped, "Huh...another technique of your kekkai genkai?"

"Yes. Now, I'll show you the true meaning of speed." Haku spoke, stepping back. Sasuke watched in mild amazement as the masked boy seemed to melt into one of the mirrors, and soon there were reflections of the Hyouton user all over the place, "This is my greatest technique. There is nowhere to run, and no chance of surviving. I'm sorry."

Sasuke had a bad feeling settling in his stomach as he watched Haku brandish more senbon, "Damn, and I was really hoping to skip any acupuncture therapy today..." Sasuke slapped his forehead as he groaned, "Stupid Kakashi's humor is rubbing off on me."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto watched from a distance as the mist on the bridge seemed to thicken. He also noticed that his own breath was becoming quite visible now. The last time he'd seen his breath from cold weather was four years ago when that rare cold front from the north actually hit Konoha, and it snowed a few inches. Good times.

The blond shook his head, and gripped a few kunai in his pouch while waiting for the right moment to strike. There was a small problem though.

He couldn't see more than ten feet in front of him right now. He'd have to move in closer if he wanted to help at all.

Running through the mist, he eventually reached the hard surface of the bridge, the sound of water splashing loudly as his sandals slapped against the paved road. He felt a shiver run down his spine; how the hell did it get so cold?

Naruto continued down the bridge, seeing the occasional unconscious bridge worker here and there. He gripped his kunai tightly, listening intently while stopping every few meters, remembering the words Itachi had drilled into him since the day he was able to throw a kunai.

"_A shinobi who is aware of their surroundings will always fare better a shinobi who doesn't, Naruto. Use your senses, and never throw caution to the wind when you cannot see your opponent, for it is likely that if you cannot see them, then they can see you."_

Naruto stopped as he caught the faint murmur of someone's voice. He strained his ears while listening to the apparently feminine voice.

"...that Naruto's okay, I haven't seen him at all. Tazuna-san, do you think...?"

Naruto smiled; Sakura was nearby. He headed towards the kunoichi's voice, and was couldn't help but smile when he saw the faint flash of pink from the girl's hair, "Sakura-chan!"

Sakura whirled around, shuriken in hand. She looked to Naruto, and let out a gasp, "Naruto?!" She squinted, and let out a bit of laughter upon seeing her dear friend alive and well, "Naruto! You're okay!"

Naruto gave her a grin before feeling a pair of arms wrap around him in a quick hug, "Heheh, of course I am, Sakura-chan." He noted two people missing, "Where are Sasuke and Kakashi?"

Sakura bit her lip, and spoke in a hushed tone, "Sasuke and Kakashi went further into the mist to fight Zabuza and his partner, Haku."

Naruto grit his teeth, "Okay. I take it Sasuke is fighting Haku, right?"

"Yeah...he's over there." Sakura pointed towards a large dome of ice, "I don't know how it got there, but I think it has something to do with Haku. He was able to make ice from the water around him."

"What about Zabuza?"

Tazuna spoke, "He's fighting Kakashi, at least I think that's what's going on. The two haven't really made much noise though."

Sakura nodded, "Zabuza's a master of the art of silent killing. Kakashi-sensei has to remain alert at all times with this heavy mist."

Naruto looked towards the faint outline of the shimmering, ice-like dome. He could sense Sasuke's chakra from there, as well as what he guessed was Haku's. He didn't like the feeling he was getting. That ice...it seemed unnatural.

"Sakura, I'm going to help Sasuke. I won't be far." Naruto made a dash towards the dome, Sakura watching him with something akin to worry and admiration.

"It's not fair, in a way." Sakura spoke, "I hate the fact that I can't help them."

Tazuna put a hand on her shoulder, "Sakura, you _are_ helping. I'm the one Zabuza and Haku are after, remember? I'd be a sitting duck if you weren't here."

Sakura gave a sigh before nodding, "You're right, Tazuna-san."

Sakura turned back to the retreating form of the blond, a small bit of fear bubbling rising up from her stomach, _'Please be careful.'_

Meanwhile, Sasuke was panting, feeling his wounds finally catching up with him. Haku wasn't lying; the kid was almost impossible to keep up with. It was only thanks to years of training that he had been able to survive this constant onslaught of attacks from the masked boy.

"You're strong, Sasuke Uchiha, but I'm afraid that you won't be able to live much longer at this rate. I have been holding back most of the time, and you have barely managed to remain standing."

Sasuke gave the gentle-toned boy a glare, "I'm sure. Why don't you save the pity party for a person who wants it?"

Haku was quiet for a moment before he pulled out another handful of senbon, "You have no fear of dying, do you? Have you no precious people that you wish to protect?"

Sasuke grimaced, "If you're asking if I have people I care for, then of course I do. My two brothers, my mother, and my team are among them. Not that it's any business of yours." Sasuke in turn pulled out a kunai, while ignoring the gashes across his knees and arms.

"I see. How do you plan on protecting them when you are about to die?"

The Uchiha laughed, "Heh, I'm not _going_ to do die. I'm an Uchiha, and Uchiha don't give in so easily."

The masked ninja seemed to accept Sasuke's answer as it was, and disappeared from view. Sasuke braced himself, watching intently for the slightest movement of the enemy.

_'Come on, Sasuke. Think. There's got to be a weakness to this guy...all shinobi have a weakness in their techniques. This one is just more elaborate than others.'_ Sasuke suddenly saw a shimmer of light. He raised an eyebrow as he looked.

_'Water droplets...suspended in air?'_ Sasuke understood. This guy was really moving that fast. He wasn't just hiding in the mirrors, he was using the reflective properties of the mirrors around him to make it appear as though he was all over the place. Only one was the real deal, of course.

Sasuke heard the distinct whistling of senbon in the air. The next thing he knew, he felt about several dozen slashes go across his body. He screamed in pain before falling over in pain. He forced himself up, staring with anger and humiliation at the older ninja, _'This guy's not even trying! Damn it!'_

Sasuke felt himself growing weary from the constant beatings of the masked boy's needle weaponry, but could see the faint outline of blond approaching him, "Sasuke, hey!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, and his vision came about again. He noticed his adoptive brother holding him up, "Naruto?" He grinned, "You idiot, where the hell were you? I had to do everything myself, like usual."

Naruto laughed nervously, "Heheh, sorry about that. I got caught up with some of Gato's thugs. They were attacking Tsunami and Inari, but I stopped them." Naruto gave a thumbs up to Sasuke, "So...this is the guy, huh? What's with the mirrors?"

Sasuke wanted to berate his adoptive brother for being an idiot and jumping into this trap, but instead decided it was too late for that. He'd just have Itachi and his mother scold him about it later, "He can used Hyouton, an ice element style based off of the combination of wind and water style. He apparently has a kekkai genkai that allows him to do it. These mirrors are resistant to my Katon attacks, and are about as hard as crystal."

Naruto cursed their luck, but wasn't going to give up before he even started, "Well, then we'll just have to drag the jerk out of these mirrors, won't we?" Naruto turned to Haku, and clenched a fist, "Hey, Haku!"

Haku apparently had been listening the whole while, politely waiting for the two to finish their conversation, "Yes?"

"Um..." Naruto was caught a bit off guard by the boy's rather polite tone, "...um, oh yeah! We're going to crush you down, one way or another! You got that?!"

Naruto clapped his hands into a seal as Sasuke sighed, "Naruto, the Shadow Clones won't-"

"Shut up! We aren't quitting now!" Naruto made about ten clones, only for them to be dispelled as Haku ripped them apart, Naruto included.

_'There it is again!'_ Sasuke thought, seeing the water droplets get moved around, _'Maybe this _can_ work!'_ Sasuke turned to Naruto, his hope renewed, "Naruto, try the _**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **_again! I think we may have found a weakness!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Seriously?" He grinned as he put his hands into the same seal as before, "Right! _**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_!"

The ninja clones jumped into the air, only to be ripped apart a second time. The blur moving among them became noticeable to the raven haired Uchiha. That's it! That was him!

"I can see him!" Sasuke said, thought just above a whisper. It suddenly became clear to him. Hi vision was able to capture his enemy's movements better. Haku was still moving fast, but Sasuke was able to at least keep an eye on his moves and be able to tell where he may be striking next, "Naruto, I can see him!"

Naruto turned to Sasuke, "You mean you can actually keep-" Naruto stopped short, and his eyes widened a bit, "Sasuke, y-your eyes!" He felt a smile spread across his face, "Sasuke, you unlocked the Sharingan!! Hahaha!!!!"

Sasuke's own eyes widened, and he chanced a look at a puddle on the ground. Sure enough, there they were. Two tomoe in each eye with the red irises. He could already see Itachi giving his brother a rare, proud smile, "Naruto...one more time."

Naruto gave Sasuke a grin that caused his features to appear more fox-like, "You got it! I'll leave the rest to you!"

As the blond shinobi let out a battle cry that was amplified by twelve more copies of himself, Sasuke smirked as he saw Haku dash through the air, "I got you."

Sasuke drew in a deep breath while going through the seals of his favorite jutsu, "_**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu**_!!!"

Haku ripped through the ninth shadow clone before sensing an intense wave of heat heading his way. He looked to his left to see a giant fireball heading his way. He rolled out of the way, experiencing a mild burn on his arm and singing part of his sleeves before landing. He looked to see Sasuke looking right at him, "You were able to keep up with my movements." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"You're not the only one with a kekkai genkai." Sasuke spoke, his tomoe spinning a bit as he watched the ice user, "I can see your every move, and know where you'll go next before it even happens."

"The Sharingan." Haku stated in a knowing tone, "Yes, Zabuza informed me a little about it. I'm guessing you just unlocked yours though, considering that you never used it until now."

"Don't underestimate Sasuke, Haku! He's good with or without the Sharingan!" Naruto said, feeling the need to defend his brother's honor, "We're the best rookie Genin team ever, so don't take us lightly!"

Haku was now back inside his mirrors, "I see. If that's the case then, I have no other choice. I'll have to kill the kindness in my own heart and be like a shinobi. Please don't blame me, I never wanted this."

"What's up with him, Sasuke? He sounds like he's apologizing or something." Naruto commented.

"I don't know, it like he's afraid to attack for real." Sasuke replied, "He's been saying 'sorry' and 'pleas forgive me' this whole time we've been fighting."

The mirrors were now all reflecting Haku again, and Sasuke's eyes were moving around as he kept watch of Haku.

_'Alright, Haku. Where are you going to strike next?I'll be ready this time...'_ Sasuke noticed Haku move closer to Naruto's side, and for a brief moment, the Uchiha and the masked ninja seemed to make eye contact. Sasuke felt his blood go cold as he looked to Naruto, then he saw Haku pull out a single senbon. Sasuke's heart nearly stopped, his worst fears coming true, _'No!'_

Naruto watched his brother's eyes go wide, and Naruto felt a horrible chill run down his spine, "Sasuke, what's up?!"

"Naruto, watch out!!!"

_Swish! Thwip!_

Naruto found himself with his back to the ground, a fearful look in his eyes as he saw Sasuke kneeling over him. Naruto saw a single senbon embedded in the Uchiha's neck, and it didn't look good, "S-Sasuke?"

Sasuke coughed a bit of blood up before feeling his arms quaking. Naruto caught him before he fell, and the raven haired boy was now facing upward to his brother, "Gah...Naruto, you okay?"

Naruto could see the color draining away from his brother's face, "I'm fine. Come on, let's get that senbon out of your-"

"Don't bother, he hit me in a vital area..." Sasuke bit back a curse as he felt his vision go hazy, "Hey, Naruto?"

Naruto felt Sasuke's breathing hitch a bit, "Y-yeah?"

"Tell Kaa-san, Nii-san, Kakashi, and Sakura that I'm sorry. That...and that I loved them both."

"Teme, don't go and talk like that!" Naruto yelled, "You're no supposed to be all soft on me now!" Naruto felt tears pricking his eyes as Sasuke's breathing became wheezy, and he saw Sasuke's eyes going in and out of focus, "Sasuke!!! Stay with me!! Come on!!"

"Don't...yell." Sasuke croaked out, "Naruto. Thanks, for being such a great brother...and friend." Sasuke could feel his own heart beat weakening, "Take care of everyone...for me." Sasuke moved his hand, gripping Naruto's arm, "Don't let your dream die, Naruto...don't..."

Naruto's eyes began to sting as he watched his brother, who was related in all but blood, let his arm drop lifelessly. His eyes clouded over, and the faint breathing of the young Uchiha was no more.

"S-Sasuke?"

Sasuke's face was now much paler than usual, and Naruto felt his body convulsing, "Don't do this to me, damn it! Sasuke!" Naruto shook his brother's limp body a bit, "Sasuke!!"

No response.

"No..." Naruto felt moisture run down his cheeks. Why? He didn't deserve this! Sasuke took the attack intended for him! Why?!

_"Don't let your dream die, Naruto..."_

Those words echoed over and over.

"He wanted me to live."

"You must have been precious to him." spoke the calm voice of Haku, "Are you his friend?"

Naruto felt his breath hitch, "I'm his _brother_."

Haku almost felt regret in what he did. Almost. Zabuza had taught him to kill the kindness in his heart though, and turn it cold. He had to do this. For Zabuza, "I see. My deepest apologies."

"Shut up."

Haku watched as a faint red aura began to surround the blond. The temperature of the area seemed to increase rapidly, and Haku actually felt warm, "What-?"

"I said _**shut up!!!**_" Naruto roared, and the weight of unnatural killer intent crashed down upon the masked shinobi. He actually staggered back from the sheer intensity.

"This killer intent! It..." he watched Naruto turn slowly, and he noted the whisker marks on the boy's face had become more distinct. His normally blue irises of the purest sapphire were now a blood red, burning with anger, "It's not human!"

Haku retreated to one of the many mirrors as Naruto rose up, red chakra swirling around him like a maelstrom. Haku felt every fiber of his being yelling for him to run, but he ignored the desire for self-preservation over the desire to help Zabuza.

Naruto let out a growl as a wave of chakra hit the mirrors, shaking the very ground around him. He glared at the reflection of the ninja that had taken the life of one of his treasured friends and family members, "You..." His slitted eyes seemed to pierce the very soul of the boy, "_**I'm going to **_**kill **_**you!!!**_"

Haku gripped his senbon needles tightly, and forced himself to continue breathing. He couldn't fail. Not now.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kakashi lifted his head a bit, and turned towards the faint glowing light where he had last seen Sasuke fighting Haku. He had just sensed Naruto's own chakra a while ago with the Uchiha. Then he sensed the raven haired boy's chakra diminish. That didn't sit well with the seasoned Jounin.

What really grated his senses was the sudden rise in a chakra that seemed to ooze malice and ill desire. He narrowed his eyes at the red light, and felt his muscles tense a bit, "The Kyuubi's power is leaking out." He shook his head. He knew that was well within Naruto's limits. He would know; his sensei had designed the seal to do just that. The chakra he was feeling was nothing but a mere sliver of what he had felt on that night several years ago.

"You seem to be thinking about something, aren't you, Kakashi?" spoke the voice of Zabuza, which seemed to surround him from all angles, "Is it perhaps that you sensed one of your own students' chakra levels suddenly disappear entirely?"

Kakashi didn't give reply, instead concentrating his chakra to his ears and nose, _'Okay, Kakashi. Concentrate on his signature. He's giving you time; use it.'_

"Maybe..." Zabuza continued, "It's the fact that there was a sudden burst of some chakra that doesn't seem human. Care to share your thoughts?"

Kakashi ducked as felt a giant blade swipe over his head, "I'd rather not, to be honest. Never been the kind of guy to open up to people that are trying to kill me. Nothing personal."

Laughter was his response, "I see. Well, maybe I'll see what your precious little kunoichi thinks. She seems like the kind who'd be willing to talk, don't you think?"

_'Damn it!'_ Kakashi turned to the direction where the faint aura of his only female student was. He ran as quickly as he could, knowing full well that he was going straight into a trap, "Sakura, Tazuna, watch out!!!"

Sakura heard her sensei's voice, and not a moment sooner, saw the glint of metal in front of her. Zabuza's sword stood before her as the missing-nin from Kiri held it in a ready position. She raised her kunai, well aware that she was clearly outmatched.

"Tazuna-san, move!"

"It's over!!!" roared the ex-Kiri shinobi.

_Swoosh! Schluck!!!_

Sakura watched in horror as the vest of her sensei stood before her, back facing her. She watched as red droplets dripped onto the paved road, "Kakashi-sensei!!!" Sakura screamed.

Zabuza laughed, "Just as I thought, Hatake. You're too soft."

Kakashi instead laughed, albeit with a bit of a cough, "Heheh, am I now?" Kakashi turned to Sakura and Tazuna, "Are you two alright?"

Sakura's eyes trembled, "Kakashi-sensei, you've been-"

"I'm fine, he just slashed a clean cut across my chest. That's why we have these vests. I'll live." He turned back to Zabuza, who had moved back some distance, "Alright, Zabuza. I believe it's about time we wrap this little dance of ours up, hm?" He pulled out a scroll from one of his pockets before spinning it around as it unfurled, "You've dug your own grave, now you'll sleep in it."

Zabuza watched the Copy-nin with a sneer on his face, "You act as though this battle's already yours."

"It is." Kakashi spoke as he swiped some of the blood from his fresh wound onto the scroll, "Prepare yourself, Zabuza." He rolled the scroll back up with a practiced finesse, and slammed it into the ground with both hands as symbols seemed to pour out from the paper, "_**Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu!**_"

The very ground seemed to shake as Zabuza sensed other chakra signatures make their presence known.

That's when the very ground before him burst open as two nin-hounds burst forth from the surface, jaws snapping. He jumped back, only for another two to burst forth from the ground behind him and successfully bite into his legs. The other two clamped down onto his arms, effectively demobilizing him from using his massive sword. To make matters worse, a fairly large bulldog of sorts broke through the cement, and clamped down on the missing-nin's shoulders while pressing it's weight on Zabuza's arms. A few more dogs seemed to join in, breaking more skin as they secured a hold over him.

"Graaaah!" Zabuza felt the canines' jaws dig deeper as he struggled to move. He was going nowhere, and he knew it.

"Zabuza, you fool. You see where your foolish little ambitions took you?" Kakashi put his scroll away, "I suppose it doesn't make any difference now, does it?" Kakashi watched as the Kiri-nin glared at him, "No, I suppose it doesn't. Let me share a bit of advice with you, Zabuza. We're shinobi, that may be true. However, even shinobi have a sense of pride. This village is being pressed down by the thumb of that corrupt man, Gato." Kakashi took a quick glance over to Tazuna, "It's because of that man over there that this village has hope. You plan on taking that hope away from them."

"What's it matter to me? Shinobi take whatever job they're given without question." Zabuza retorted.

"I suppose that's true. Still...even I draw the line somewhere. There's a difference between a job and a dirty act. You're bordering closely on the latter, and I'm afraid you're leaving me with no choice." Kakashi ran through a couple of seals before gripping his right hand with his right wrist, "Be honored, Zabuza. This is my one and only original technique."

Zabuza watched with a mild hint of horror as the Copy-nin's hand began glowing with electricity, "What the hell? His chakra is so condensed it's practically sparking."

Kakashi's eyes gave off a dangerous gleam that few shinobi have seen and told about, "This is my sole original technique." He raised his hand a bit, "_**Raikiri**_!"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Haku couldn't make a dent in this transformed version of Naruto. He had already thrown senbon in the boy's vital spots several times, only for the boy to shrug them off or deflect them with the pure chakra he was releasing. It didn't help that Haku's chakra reserves were running low from maintaining his crystal-ice mirrors.

"I have to end this, before things get out of hand." Haku spoke with resolve.

Naruto growled as he sensed the masked boy's presence. He made eye contact with Haku, and sprinted towards the mirror like a mad beast. Haku leaped out of the mirror just before it was smashed into pieces. Naruto followed the boy, and ran at a second mirror, missing Haku by mere seconds. Haku panted as he held senbon in each hand, and threw with more ferocity than he could remember in all his time as a shinobi.

Naruto took all them without flinching. He looked up at the reflection of his foe, and with a might roar, seemed to throw the needle-like weapons off of him with another wave of the tainted chakra.

Haku reappeared behind Naruto, holding one of the last handful of senbon he had in his hands, "This strike will have to be a direct one. I have no choice!" Haku suppressed the feeling telling him he was running to his death, and left the mirror.

Haku raced towards Naruto, only for his worse fears to come true as Naruto turned to quickly spin kick the boy in the face. Haku's mask flew off as he crashed into his own mirror. His face smacked into the mirror, blood smearing against it from his now bleeding mouth.

Naruto jumped into the air, and cocked back a fist to pummel the boy. Haku rolled away, and raised his hands in defense as Naruto delivered a second punch, striking home and sending the boy careening into another mirror.

"Damn it..." Haku wheezed, "I...I can't fight him like this." Haku looked to one of his mirrors, and made a break for the safety it would provide. Unfortunately for the boy, Naruto caught him by the wrist first.

Haku tried in vain to escape, but the overwhelming chakra turned out to be too much for him to handle. Naruto's fist clenched as he locked eyes with Haku's now unmasked face. For a moment, Naruto seemed to hesitate, and then his memory finally caught up with him, "_**You?**_"

Haku spit some blood before nodding, "Yes," The older boy had a hurt look on his face, "I'm sorry this happened."

Naruto's glare intensified again, "_**Sorry?!**_" The Genin's voice cracked, "You _**killed**_ my brother, and all you can say is _**sorry?!**_" Naruto struck Haku in the face, his rage getting the best of him again. Haku tumbled back, smashing into a mirror.

The ice-user slumped over against the mirror as the others shattered around him. He looked up to a pair of tearful eyes belonging to Naruto Uzumaki, "Was he precious to you?"

Naruto had enough. Was he trying to mock him? Naruto had enough, "What do you _**think?!!**_"

Naruto hoisted Haku up by the collar to deliver another punch when the boy spoke in a choked voice, "Not...dead..."

His grip loosening a bit, the blond spoke, "What?"

"Your brother; he's not dead."

Naruto's eyes widened, "He stopped breathing though! His chakra is nonexistent!"

"I hit him in a pressure point, and put him into a deep sleep as a result. He's in a death-like state right now." Haku looked over to the motionless form of the Uchiha, "Let me go, and I'll remove the senbon."

"I don't believe you."

A chuckle, "I don't blame you. However, you've already won this battle. I'll remove the senbon from your brother, and that will allow him to wake up sooner." Haku smiled a bit, "I promise."

Naruto dropped the boy on the ground, "Try anything funny and I'll end you."

Haku said nothing, instead walking over to the downed Uchiha and looking at his neck. Sure enough, the senbon had punctured right between the neck and shoulder muscles. He gingerly removed the needle, and spoke, "Give him a bit of time and he'll awaken."

Naruto looked to Haku, confusion starting to etch into his features, "Why did you help me?"

The older shinobi gave a sad smile, "I'm no longer of use to Zabuza-san. You've beaten me; I may as well do something useful before I die. I'm just a broken tool now."

This caused the blond to raise an eyebrow, "Broken tool?" Naruto shook his head, "What kind of crap are you talking about?"

"Shinobi are tools of war. That's what we are made to do." explained Haku, "My purpose is to serve Zabuza-san in anyway possible. I've failed him by being unable to defeat you."

"You're still alive, though. How is that failing?"

Haku chuckled, "Naruto, you could have killed me already."

The blond's stomach felt like it had been filled with ice, and he shuddered, "Kill you?"

"You don't remember? You were going to kill me, that's what you said, didn't you?"

"I..." Naruto looked away, "I'm sorry."

"We're enemies. There's _nothing_ to be sorry about."

Naruto growled, and turned to the fading mist, and spoke, "Do we have to be enemies?"

"Perhaps not. However, Zabuza-san is fighting your sensei so that he may kill the bridge builder. That indirectly makes you and me enemies, whether we like it or not."

Naruto was about to reply when he heard the sound of clapping, "How touching! Really pulls on my heartstrings!"

Naruto and Haku whipped around to see a good fifty or so men where the bridge and ground met, "Who's that?"

Haku replied as he recognized the faint outline of a short man with a business suit, "Gato..." His face hardened, "What are you doing here? We're taking care of-"

"I'm cutting you and your fool of a guardian off. You're too expensive, and you don't get the work done." Gato sneered, "I decided to fix loose ends and just hire more men for less. It makes sense."

Naruto looked to Haku, and then to the sunglass-wearing man, "So _you're_ the freak called Gato?"

The business tycoon frowned, "Freak? Hahahaha!" He pointed his cane at the blond, "You shinobi are ones to talk, with your unnatural powers." He turned to his men, "Kill the one with the long hair first, then the others."

Haku pulled out a senbon just in time to deflect a crossbow bolt, "Traitorous bastard." The ice-user turned to Naruto, "Looks like our contract with Gato is null and void. We're no longer enemies."

"Fair enough. I'll hold them off. Get Sasuke out of here, and tell Kakashi-sensei and the others."

Haku gave a nod before heaving Sasuke over his shoulders and dashing off to the others.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura watched as Kakashi charged up his electric attack, preparing to make the finishing blow as the incapacitated missing-nin Zabuza looked on with mild anger and fear.

"Wait! Stop!!!"

Everyone stopped to see Haku running to the group with an unconscious Sasuke Uchiha on his shoulders. Zabuza was the first to speak, "Haku? What the hell are you doing here?!"

Haku huffed and puffed as he set Sasuke on the ground, "Gato's broken our contract. He's here with some men to kill all of us off."

It was Kakashi's turn to be surprised, "That's a bit bold of him. How many men are we talking here?"

"Fifty, if not more."

Kakashi looked to the former Kiri-nin while canceling his _**Raikiri**_, "Well, Zabuza? Your client has broken the deal with you and your partner. You have no further reason to continue this attack on us."

Zabuza looked at his comrade, then to the Jounin, "Fine. Just let me go, and we can wipe out the backstabber."

Kakashi gave a nod to the dogs, and they vanished in smoke. The two Jounin-level shinobi eyed each other cautiously before Zabuza turned to see the crowd of men at the other end of the bridge. Kakashi did likewise before his eyes noted the random blond in front of the numerous mercenaries, "Is that Naruto?!"

Haku gave a nod, "Yes. He gave me time so that I could bring Sasuke back to your team. He's unconscious, but he'll live."

Kakashi sighed before turning to his enemy turned ally, "Zabuza, what do you say we end this before my student gets killed?"

Zabuza rolled his shoulders before replying, "Like I'd give a damn what happens to the brat."

"Zabuza-san, please. Naruto spared me in battle."

Zabuza turned to his apprentice in mild surprise, "_Spared_? You mean he could have killed you?"

"Yes. He didn't though."

Zabuza turned to the blond, who had summoned close to fifty clones to aid him, "That kids' an idiot..."

"He tends to surprise everyone though. I wouldn't underestimate him." Kakashi replied.

"Tch." The Kiri-nin lifted his sword, "Fine, let's get this over with already."

The two Jounin raced over to Naruto as Haku fell to his knees. He looked to see the pink haired girl and Tazuna watching him warily, "Ah, you're the third Genin of this squad, aren't you?"

Sakura gave a quick nod, "Er, yes. I am." She noted Haku's beat up condition, "Oh, you're really bruised up. I...I have some medical supplies-"

"I'm fine, thank you."

Sakura frowned, "I never gave you a choice," she said in a stern voice, "now sit down and I'll get you fixed up."

Tazuna watched in mild amusement as his young bodyguard began treating the enemy. He shook his head; shinobi were definitely a unique bunch.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto watched from behind the barrier of his clones as they were combating against mercenaries. He had managed to knock out about a fourth of them, but there were much more than he had originally anticipated. Not to mention that he wasn't aiming for killing blows.

"Damn it, they just keep coming." Naruto grumbled, "Hey, back off before I start really throwing my punches!"

The mercenaries, of course, ignored him. Naruto moved as a few crossbow bolts fired at him. He was starting to feel a bit woozy.

"Guess I used more chakra than I thought."

He noticed that his clones were being overpowered, much to his surprise. Eventually only a few remained. Naruto pulled out a kunai, and grit his teeth, '_Okay, Naruto. This is it. Everyone's depending on you. Don't give up now!'_

The remainder of his clones were mowed down as the army of men ran towards him. He prepared for the inevitable, watching as spears and bolts fired through the air.

Just before he was about to become a human pincushion, a large object crashed in front of him, deflecting the weapons as the hit the metallic object. The Jinchuuriki boy blinked as he realized what had saved him.

"Isn't that Zabuza's sword?"

"Hey, kid, unless you plan on getting killed, move out of the way."

Naruto looked to see Zabuza standing by his sword now, "What are you-?"

"Stand aside, Naruto, we'll take it from here." Kakashi spoke, "You did well. I'm proud of you."

The mercenaries halted in their tracks as Kakashi Hatake and Zabuza Momochi. Gato, who was standing at a distance, slammed his cane into the ground, "What are you dolts doing?! Attack! There's only three of them!"

Zabuza smirked while looking to Kakashi, "I got Gato, got it?"

"Whatever." Kakashi spoke, "Don't go and die now, or I'll have to carry your carcass up to a proper burial site."

"Heh, you're just full of them, aren't you, Hatake?"

The Konoha shinobi shrugged, "I have my moments."

The mercenaries continued with their attack while Zabuza and Kakashi prepared themselves, both not moving an inch.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura had never seen such an unfavorable battle end so quickly in her young life. Then again, Zabuza and Kakashi were both Jounin, and those Sution jutsu were real handy.

She, along with Tazuna, a now bandaged Haku, and a still unconscious Sasuke being carried by Tazuna, headed over to the now empty battleground. It had been a rather gruesome battle. There was bloodshed too.

At the moment, Gato was slowly backing away from Zabuza, who had his sword hefted onto one shoulder, "S-stay away from me!"

Zabuza looked at the now cowering tycoon, a deadly edge in his eyes, "What's the matter? I was pretty sure you were pretty damn confident a short while ago."

"You...you're insane!" Gato looked at the dead bodies, and then back to the former Kiri-nin. He dug into a pocket in his coat, and pulled out a rather large remote, and an explosive of sorts from another pocket, "This explosive has enough explosive power to bring this bridge to kingdom come! Don't move, or I'll pull press the switch."

Everyone halted, and Kakashi gave Zabuza a quick glance, "I'm not about to try and call his bluff, Zabuza."

Zabuza grumbled a few curses before glaring at the shorter man, "How do you plan to get out of this one? You press that button, and you get caught in the explosion as well."

"Perhaps, but it's me along with you two damned shinobi as well." He grinned while tossing the explosive to the ground so that it lay between him and the group of ninja, "So...just back away nice and slow."

Zabuza and Kakashi slowly walked back, though the sword-wielding ninja looked ready to lob off the tycoon's head, "Damn coward."

It was fortunate on Gato's part that shinobi weren't used to using plastic explosives. Those tags and explosive powders were old fashioned, but they seemed to prefer them to modern technology. He had lied about the explosive power of the bomb; it wasn't more than the equivalent of about three sticks of dynamite at best. It was enough for him to fool them though.

Gato grinned as he walked over to the explosive and picked it up, "You shinobi are a lot easier to fool than I thought. Good for me, I guess. Here, catch!"

The madman tossed the explosive to the group, and backed up while holding onto the remote. He'd soon be rid of the shinobi, and the bridge builder would be gone as well.

"Son of a- everyone, get down!!" Kakashi yelled, dropping to the ground along with the others. Zabuza did likewise, but was shocked when he saw his young apprentice running to catch the falling explosive.

"Haku, what are you doing?!"

Haku didn't reply. He jumped up and caught the bomb, and disappeared in a flash. Gato blinked several times, trying to find out where the explosive went.

"You were careless to go and throw your one way out of this."

Gato turned behind him to see Haku holding the explosive in his hands. Gato backed away, and lifted his thumb to press down on the remote.

_Click!_

Gato raised an eyebrow as he saw nothing happen. No explosion. No flash or bang. Nothing!

_Click! Click! Clickclickclickclik!_

"You're wasting your time. My kekkai genkai has frozen the circuitry within this bomb. It'll take several hours for it to thaw, and within that time, we'll have it dismantled."

Gato dropped the remote, and looked to see the other shinobi heading towards him again, "No, wait! Can't we talk this out?" He dug into a pocket, and held a rather large stash of money bundled together, "Here! I'll pay every single one of you one-hundred thousand ryou! Enough money to live for months, hell even years on!"

Zabuza raised his sword, "Nah, I think I'll pass."

The sound of metal swiping through the air and slashing flesh was heard. Zabuza set his sword on the ground as the headless body of Gato fell to the ground. Sakura looked away while Haku merely sat on the ground to recover his strength. Naruto felt like he was going to wretch.

"Well, that's over..." Kakashi let out a sigh, "About time."

"Alright everyone! Let's show Gato what we're made of!"

The shinobi and Tazuna looked to the end of the bridge near the village, only to see a mass of the villagers carrying pitchforks and other various weapons or tools. They looked to be the picture perfect representation of a village mob.

"Um...what's the commotion?" Naruto asked, seeing Inari in the front of the group.

Tazuna's grandson gave the blond shinobi a blank stare before he realized that the fight seemed to be over, "Well, we were going to help you fight Zabuza and Gato's men..."

Kakashi chuckled lightly, "No need. Zabuza's not going to be killing your grandfather anymore. Gato betrayed him and Haku."

The villagers all seemed to quiet down as they turned to Zabuza. He nodded his head to confirm what Kakashi said was true.

"What about Gato?"

Zabuza nodded over to the headless body of said corrupt tycoon, "Dead."

The villagers almost immediately erupted into cheers. Finally...they were free!

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It was close to a week and a half since the death of Gato, and the consequential liberation of Wave Country. Team Seven received a celebration fit for heroes of a war, and a large feast had been held the night of the battle with Haku and Zabuza.

As for the two missing-nin, they had hung around Wave with the other shinobi, waiting for the bridge to be completed. Partly because they had nowhere else to go, and partly because...

...well, Zabuza wasn't quite sure _why_ he was sticking around. He was a missing-nin that was wanted for the attempted assassination of the Mizukage. He and Haku were pretty much men on the run. It wasn't good for them to stay in one place for too long.

"This your card?"

Zabuza sighed before looking to the masked Jounin, "No, but it's the right suit this time."

Kakashi cursed before shuffling his deck again. How the hell did those illusionists and magicians do it?

"Hatake-san, perhaps you're trying too hard?" Haku spoke, setting down a tray with tea for the two, "Sakura-san has managed to pull of the trick rather-"

"Not now, Haku, I'm trying to see what I'm doing wrong." Kakashi spoke as he went through the motions he had read in that card trick book.

Haku shook his head before stepping outside. He saw Naruto and Sakura sitting on the porch while Sasuke was leaning against the house. Sasuke looked over to the older boy and nodded, "Kakashi get the trick down yet?"

"No, and I fear that Zabuza-san's patience is dwindling because of it."

Sakura gave a groan, "Kakashi-sensei just needs to use his wrist better, that's all. He's concentrating on the trick too much, that's all. I've performed the same trick several times already, and he still doesn't get."

The four watched as the sun set over Wave, casting an orange and pink light over the horizon. Naruto reclined back while yawning, "Man, when are we going to head back home? I bet Mom is working Itachi like a rented mule right now."

Sasuke snorted in laughter at the idea of his mother have Itachi dusting the house in an apron and kneepads, "I wouldn't put it past her. She always took a lot of pride in keeping the house clean."

As the night waned on, the four shinobi soon became only two. Haku claimed he was going to be making breakfast tomorrow and Sasuke had been rather tired today anyway, so bed sounded great for him.

Sakura wanted thank the Uchiha boy for having some tact and leaving the two alone; he had always been pestering Naruto about his unique relationship with Sakura, and the blond, while lovable, was a bit clueless at times with this stuff.

"So..." Sakura began.

"Nice night out, eh, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked with a grin, "I kind of like the weather here, though the air is a bit chilly for me in the morning."

Sakura smiled gently while scooting closer while leaning on the blond's shoulder. Naruto tensed a little before smiling, "Yeah, I like it here too, but I miss Konoha." Sakura replied, "I think we could come back here again for a vacation in the summer. Tsunami says the beaches west of here are the best among the islands of Wave."

"Heh," Naruto stretched a bit while Sakura wrapped her arms around him, "I think you just want to see Sasuke in swimming trunks."

A swift elbow to the blond's gut cause him to laugh harder, though with a bit of pain now, "Hmph. I wasn't thinking of any such thing. I'd rather see Itachi than Sasuke, to be honest."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, and a mischievous smirk crossed his features, "Really?"

Sakura's eyes went wide, and she immediately caught onto his tone of voice, "W-wait, I was joking! Don't say that to him! Ino won't let me live that down for months!"

"I'm joking, Sakura. I know you didn't mean it." He laughed as she pouted, "Besides, I'm pretty sure Itachi would have turned you down. He's too busy for a girlfriend right now."

"I don't' know, I thought Kiba said he and Hana were seeing each other for awhile."

Naruto shrugged, "Kiba told me that ever since Hana became a Chunin that she's been to occupied with work to date as well."

Letting out a sigh, Sakura lied down the porch with Naruto, looking up to the starry sky. They were quiet for awhile before Sakura let out a laugh, causing Naruto to give her a questioning look, to which she shook her head.

"I remember when you and Sasuke first started getting chased by his fangirls."

Naruto shuddered, "_Don't remind me of them_." He gave another involuntary shudder, "Do you know what they said to him? Do you??"

"I don't think I want to."

"No," Naruto replied, "You _don't_." He seemed to be trying to suppress the memories, "I remember when they tried to steal his shirt and pants."

"Seriously?"

"Dead serious."

Sakura gave Naruto a rather disturbed look, "Um...what about it?"

"Well, once Sasuke and I started the method of using the henge so that we could split the fangirls up, I experienced first hand how vicious they get. Since I was disguised myself as Sasuke, well..."

Sakura suddenly appeared very alert, "What'd they do? Did they steal your clothes? What?"

The blond nodded, "They got my shirt, and then tried to get my pants. I released my henge, and that only made it worse."

"Why?"

"They realized that 'I was hot as Sasuke-kun' and a small fangirl group developed from that day."

Sakura felt her inner conscience roar out that Naruto was not going to be taken by some hussy while she remained relatively calm, "Oh, I see. Well, how come I don't see you running from them ever?"

"Sakura-chan, come on. I've always been better at hiding then Sasuke."

Sakura laughed, relieved that Naruto wasn't trying to impress any of the girls, "I noticed though that the fangirls have died down since the we graduated."

"Heh, yeah, I think they realized we were more concerned about being shinobi than dating." the blond chuckled, "Besides, Sasuke already has a crush on-" Naruto cut himself off, and looked to see that Sakura's eyes were on him.

"Sasuke has a crush on someone?"

"No."

"Awww, come on, Naruto! Tell me! I swear I won't tell anyone!"

"Except Ino."

"Well, yeah...but she's my best friend!"

"She's the gossip queen of our generation, Sakura-chan. Besides, if I tell even you, Sasuke will use me to test how large of a fireball he can fire at a moving target."

Sakura gave Naruto the one trump card she had for such situations, and let her eyes shine a bit, "_Please_, Naruto-kun? I won't tell anyone, not even Ino."

Naruto looked away, only for Sakura to give a slight whimper, "Not fair." He looked back to her as she smiled innocently, "You promise?"

Sakura raised her pinky, "Promise, on my honor as a kunoichi."

Naruto smiled before linking his pinky with hers in a promise, "Sasuke has had a crush on Hinata for almost two years now."

"Hinata? _Our_ Hinata?"

"Shhhhh!" Naruto looked around nervously, "Yes, Hinata Hyuuga."

Sakura let out a quiet squeal, "Ohhhh, that's so adorable! They'd be soooo-"

"Sakura-chan, remember you promised!"

Sakura blinked before laughing, "Sorry, sorry. I know, I promised." She patted Naruto on the cheek a bit, "You should get him hooked up with her. He doesn't seem like the type to really go after a girl."

Naruto blushed a bit, "Well, um..."

The young kunoichi noticed that he wanted to say more, "What?"

"...bugging me too..."

She leaned closer, "Huh? Naruto, speak up a bit."

Naruto seemed to flush further red, "Sasuke and Itachi have been bugging me too about things like that too." He looked to see Sakura was now much more attentive than she had already been, "Um, well, I better get going. Early to bed and early to rise keeps a man healthy, wealthy, and full...or wait...no, what was that last part? Healthy, wealthy..." Naruto shook his head, "Bah, whatever. I'll see you in the morning Sakura-chan!" Naruto bolted inside before Sakura could even say goodnight.

The blond was in the room where Sasuke and Haku were sleeping. Naruto noted that Kakashi wasn't there though.

"Yo."

Naruto nearly screamed in surprise when he turned to see said missing sensei standing at the door, "Kakashi. Geesh, you scared me."

"Yeah, I have that kind of effect on people." He pushed off the door frame, "Up kind of late, don't you think?"

Naruto sighed, "I was hanging out with Sakura."

Kakashi already was aware of Naruto's supposedly secret crush on the girl. He found it a bit ironic that the very girl his blond student liked happened to have an equivalently awkward infatuation with the boy.

Well, maybe infatuation was too immature of a word. The two knew each other very well. Maybe...they harbored romantic feelings for each other? No...too sappy...

...he needed to get back to Icha Icha before he lost his amazing vocabulary as a result of withdrawal.

"Hey, Kakashi?"

"Hm?"

"Um..." Naruto scratched his head as he gathered his thoughts, "...how do you tell someone that you really care about that you like them a lot, but you're afraid that they either will laugh at you, or not feel the same?"

"First off," Kakashi began quietly, "I don't think Sakura would laugh at you. She's a smart girl, and I can tell that she'd see you're serious." Naruto's jaw went slack, "Oh come on, I could tell from the start, Naruto. I remember your mother telling me how you _wanted_ to go to the Academy to see 'Sakura-chan'."

"Heh, you got me." the young Uzumaki replied with a chuckle.

"Secondly, while I'm not an expert in female behavior, I think she cares about you a lot."

"R-really?"

"Really." the silver haired Jounin replied with a smile, "Just do what you think is right, Naruto. You're a smart kid, and even if you weren't, Sakura would be able to make up for what you lack in intelligence." The boy looked to his stomach for a second, then to the Jounin, "Before you ask, no, you don't need to tell her right away about the Kyuubi. In fact, you should probably wait a little while for that. Though I doubt she'd stop talking to you because of that. Like I said, she's a smart girl."

Naruto gave a small grin, "Thanks, Kakashi. I feel a bit better."

"No problem. Now you better solve this before she thinks that you have a crush on someone else after that talk you had with her just awhile ago. Teammate relationships can either make or break a team."

Naruto laughed a bit before looking out the window to see Sakura standing by a tree in Tazuna's front lawn. He got worried when he noticed she was leaning against it and not moving much at all, "I'll go check on her."

The Jounin nodded, "Good idea."

Naruto bounded down the steps as quietly as possible, giving a quick nod to Zabuza, who was looking at the playing cards on the table in an interested manner, and opened the door to the cool night air.

Sakura gave a sigh as she leaned against the old tree in Tazuna's front yard. She wasn't necessarily angry, but she was upset. Naruto's words had sent a chill through her body, though she wasn't sure if it was a good or bad one. He said, more or less, that there was a girl he was either interested in, or that Itachi and Sasuke were trying to get him the nerve to ask out.

"I should have known." Sakura laughed, "He only sees me as a friend. Heh, figures. Someone nabbed him before I could even-"

"Sakura?"

The kunoichi whirled around to see Naruto standing a good distance from her, "Naruto? I thought you went-"

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I kind of ran off earlier on you, didn't I?"

Sakura gave a pout, "You didn't even tell me who the girl was," She approached Naruto, "So, are you going to tell me?"

"Eh, well, that's the thing, Sakura-chan," Naruto began. Sakura's eyes widened a bit as he held her gave her one of his gentlest smiles, "You're the girl."

Sakura was quiet for a minute. She felt her palms grow sweaty as she clenched them, and eventually a trembling smile crossed her lips, "Baka."

Naruto was worried for a minute that he had upset her, but was proven wrong when the girl wrapped her arms around him, "S-Sakura-chan?"

"I guess I should let you know too, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

A few pink strands were covering her face as she looked to the boy she had admired, and who apparently had held a deep affection towards her as well, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that..." She planted a light kiss on Naruto's cheeks, "I've had a crush on you. Maybe since we first met."

"S-since we first met?"

The emerald eyed girl giggled, "I think that would be pretty accurate. You just have a way of making me happy, and I always feel like I can be myself around you." She hugged him tighter, "That and I always found you to be cuter than any of the other boys."

Naruto blinked several times, his face blushing to the point that Sakura was getting worried that he'd suffer blood loss to his limbs with the way it was getting darker and darker.

"Y-you like me?" Naruto stuttered.

"I would say more than like." Sakura spoke as she felt her face heating up as well, "I wouldn't say it's like a married couple, but-"

"I understand." Naruto spoke, laughing a bit himself, "So...does this mean we can date?"

The kunoichi rolled her eyes before wrapping her arms around his neck, "Well, I'll give you points for asking." She found it quite humorous now that she realized that Naruto was actually a bit shorter than her. Only a few inches, but, enough to notice when the two stood side by side, "I wish you were a bit taller...but I guess I don't mind being taller than you."

Naruto frowned a bit as she smiled, "Sakura-chan, that's mean."

"Yeah, but it's true." She laughed while the two sat down by each other on the cool ground, "We better get going to bed. We're leaving tomorrow, aren't we?"

"Oh yeah." the blond replied, "Besides, I think Kakashi's watching us from the front porch." They both turned to the front porch, and sure enough, he was standing there, and waved, "What are _you_ looking at?"

Kakashi shrugged, "I doubt your mothers would like to hear that their twelve year old children were making out on their first mission outside of Konoha. I was just making sure I didn't have to intervene."

Sakura opened and closed her mouth several times before growling, "Kakashi-sensei, you _pervert_!!!"

In all due fairness though, Kakashi _was _speaking the truth...

- - - - -

The next morning the group woke up around nine. They had a hard breakfast, compliments of Tsunami, and were packed and ready to go. Team Seven was standing at the completed bridge with Zabuza and Haku, along with a god portion of the small village there to bid farewell to their saviors.

"Be sure to come back again sometime. We'll always be happy to have you here." Tazuna spoke to the group.

"We're honored, Tazuna-san. I hope that this bridge will serve as a bolster between the relations of our two countries." Kakashi gave a curt bow, "Well, we better get going."

The group said their goodbyes to everyone, and headed back to Konoha, light in heart and spirit.

"Father, what are we going to call this bridge?"

Tazuna thought for a moment. He had been thinking on naming it the Great Kakashi Bridge, but then thought better, "Tsunami, you said that one of the kids saved you and Inari?"

Tsunami nodded, "Yes, I believe it was Naruto-kun. He saved Inari when those two men had me at sword point."

Tazuna grinned, "That boy...he has a lot of heart, doesn't he?" There were a few nods, "I remember watching him fight off that entire group of mercenaries by himself...and he showed Inari what it means to be a hero."

"So what are you going to name it?" Inari asked with a smile.

"We'll call it the Great Naruto Bridge."

- - - - -

After about ten minutes on the road, the group of shinobi came to a fork in the road. Zabuza turned to the left while Kakashi's group took the right. Haku turned to follow Zabuza, but was surprised to see his mentor shake his head, "Sorry, Haku. This is where we part ways."

Haku's eyes went wide, "What are you saying?"

Zabuza sighed, "You're still young, Haku. The fight on the bridge helped me realize something. You haven't spent much time with your own age group. I want you to go with Hatake and the others to Konoha. You're face isn't know to the Hunter-nin, since you always wore that mask. I want you to live your own life, do what you want for once."

"Zabuza-san, but I thought that I was-"

"_No_, you're not a tool. You're a boy of fifteen years in age who hasn't lived like a kid should. Yes, you're a shinobi, but still a kid." Zabuza spoke, "Naruto spared you. Kakashi and his team helped me realize that you don't have to be a cold-blooded killer to be a good ninja."

Haku looked down, "If I've done anything that has upset you, then please-"

"Haku, for the last time, I'm not upset with you. I want you to live your life without constantly being hunted down. Grow up in a place you can live a somewhat normal life for a shinobi."

Haku sighed, but let a smile cross his lips, "Perhaps I'll see you again sometime?"

Zabuza looked to Kakashi, and grinned behind his wrappings, "I'm sure we will. I may be on the run, but I'm always willing to stop by for a few days at a time when I'm in the neighborhood."

"I guess this is goodbye then." Haku spoke.

Zabuza was never good with words, so he instead relied on his actions. He placed a hand on the boy's head, and ruffled his hair about, "Take care of yourself, Haku."

"I will. Make sure you eat well enough."

Zabuza groaned while Naruto snorted in a suppressed laughter. The lone swordsman of the Hidden Mist gave a wave before heading off into the misty morning air, the roads still rather close to the shore.

Kakashi noted Haku was still watching his mentor as he disappeared into the mist, "You alright?"

"I think I will be." the calm boy replied, "I think this is the best for both of us, in a way. Zabuza told me he wants to go into bodyguard and escort work for awhile. He thinks that maybe assassination would be best to stay away from for awhile."

"Wow. He's changed a bit, hasn't he?" Sakura noted. Haku looked to her and gave a small nod.

"Right. Well, Haku, seeing as you don't officially belong to a village, since Zabuza kind of unofficially trained you, I think it'll be a cakewalk for you to become a registered shinobi of Konoha. With your skill and abilities, you're likely to be a shoe-in for Chunin rank already."

"Really? I..." Haku gave an embarrassed bow, "Thank you, Hatake-san."

"Kakashi is fine with me, Haku."

"Very well, Kakashi-san."

Kakashi decided to forget the idea, and began his trek at front of the group, "Alright, team, Konoha's a good five day walk from here, though we don't have Tazuna with us this time. I think we'll be there by the end of the day if we continue at a moderate pace and take to the trees. Sound good?"

Naruto let out a whoop while Sasuke tightened his backpack up. Sakura gave a nod while Haku just had a prepared air about him.

"Right, well, let's get going then."

**End of Chapter Six- Yo, here's the long overdue conclusion to the Wave Arc! Woooo! Anyway, yes, I kept some elements the same here as the canon, but hey, I do like the plot of the canon too. With Haku in Konoha though, there will be some changes of course. Besides, just in case anyone forgot, Itachi _is_ still a Konoha-nin, heheh. Well, hopefully you enjoyed this chapter. I may have been a bit light on the NaruSaku moment, but hey, they're only twelve going on thirteen. Give them time, geesh, lol. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you thought! Until next chapter, later!**

**_Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu __-- Fire Release: Fireball Technique (series)- _A fire jutsu used by many of the clan members of the Uchiha clan, as well as quite a few shinobi of Konoha. The user does the necessary hand seals, draws the necessary chakra from their chest, and exhales it in a steady stream of flames, creating a fireball. **

**_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu-- Shadow Clone Technique- (series)- _Unlike the _Bunshin no Jutsu_, _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu _is a technique that creates a copy of the user that has both form and substance by distributing chakra into the clone. The Shadow Clone can also use any jutsu and other tactics the original user has on knowledge. Once the clone is dispersed by an attack, damage, or by the user themselves, all information gained from the clone is passed onto the original ninja, as well as any other clones.**

**_Sensatsu Suishou-- Death By A Thousand Flying Water Needles- (series)- _A ninjutsu technique unique to Haku's kekkai genkai of Hyouton jutsu. By creating hand seals with only one hand, Haku is able to create needles of ice by raising water into the air and freezing it, and then send them raining down onto the enemy.**

**_Makyou Hyoushou-- Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors- (series)- _A technique that is unique to Haku thanks to his Hyouton kekkai genkai ability, which allows him to create ice. By performing the necessary hand seals, Haku creates flat, mirror-like sheets of ice, surrounding the opponent from all 360 degrees. He can then enter these mirrors, and use the reflections from the other mirrors to confuse the opponent on his true location. The, using his speed, he is able to attack quickly while having the ability to move from one mirror to the other. However, if he uses this jutsu for an extended period of time, it will sap away at his chakra.**

_**Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu-- Summoning Technique: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique- (series)- **_**A summoning jutsu performed by Kakashi. By placing a smear of his blood across a summoning scroll, he can bring forth his own ninken (Ninja Dogs) to perform an attack on his enemies. Kakashi will slam the scroll into the ground, and allow his dogs go into the earth, and then attack from underground, catching the opponent by surprise.**

_**Raikiri-- Lightning Edge- (series)- **_**Also known as **_**Lightning Blade**_**. By focusing chakra into the ****user's hand, a strong electric current is created in around the hand holding the chakra, and essentially altering the nature of the user's chakra. They can also alter the strength and range of the attack. Kakashi Hatake invented this technique. One should note that the **_**Chidori**_** is essentially the same technique as **_**Raikiri**_**. The user then uses amazing speed to deliver a powerful thrust with their electrified arm to strike through any target. This speed has made it an ideal assassination move. However, such speed can easily be countered when the user is moving so fast, so the Sharingan is used in conjunction to predict the targets moves and strike home. The name **_**Chidori **_**derives from the words 'One Thousand Birds' since the speed and power of the chakra causes it to sound like the chirping of one thousand birds. **_**Raikiri **_**derives from after it was said that Kakashi used the technique to cut a lightning bolt in two. This technique requires a large amount of chakra, and can therefore be used only so many times a day. **


End file.
